The daily Astorian., December 14, 2016, Page 9A, Image 9

9A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
Retailers: ‘A third of our business is done in December’
Continued from Page 1A
come down from Seattle and Portland to come
to the coast and get away. Astoria is a destina-
tion, they love coming here.”
Warrenton has also been hit by a wave of
recent tourist spending.
“We’ve gotten more tourists in our new
location,” said Jim Gannaway, co-owner of
Gannaway Brothers Jewelers along with his
brother, Tim. “But most of our business is
local.” The jewelry business is both seasonal
and cyclical.
“We get more busy around the holidays,”
said Jim Gannaway.
“Christmas being the biggest, generally a
third of our business is done in December.”
Local big box stores have also seen a major
boost in holiday business.
“We’re exceeding expectations,” said Jerry
Sandness, director at Fred Meyer in Warrenton,
“Black Friday was very good, our sales have
increased over last year.”
Retailers stay steadfast
during sales slump
While sales have heated up across Clatsop
County during the holiday season, some are
still sluggish from a cold start in the fall.
“This year was not as good as last year,” said
Patricia Fagerland, owner of Forsythea, a fine
art and artisan décor store in Astoria. Fager-
land made the realization after looking over her
books detailing the past three years of Black
Friday business, noting that her sales had fallen
25 percent compared to last year. “For that par-
ticular day it was off, but there’s still time. I see
a surge right after Thanksgiving, then another
one two weeks before Christmas. It’s a lit-
tle flat, but I’m not discouraged at all,” Fager-
land said. The cycle of up-and-down sales is
expected this time of year, according to Kret-
tler, owner of Commercial Street Antiques and
Collectibles. “It picks up around Thanksgiving,
then it slows down, then it will pick up again,”
Krettler said. “In the antiques and collectibles
business, I may get dealers that come in and
make my day.”
Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
Local big box stores have also seen a major boost in holiday business. “We’re exceeding expectations,” said Jerry Sandness, director
at Fred Meyer in Warrenton. “Black Friday was very good, our sales have increased over last year.”
Election impact
Lingering anxiety from a particularly con-
tentious election may have stymied sales for
some area businesses.
“I think it has had an impact,” said Fager-
land. “I think the fall was a little sluggish
leading up to the election.” Others consid-
ered the possibility before reaching their own
conclusions.
“We had some pretty slow patches during
the year,” said Gannaway. “I had a bunch of
suppliers that were telling me it was because of
the anxiety over the election. I have record back
to 1984 and I went and checked.” After running
a spreadsheet and doing analysis, Gannaway
came away with a new conclusion.
“This wasn’t the only contentious election,
there were others, but there’s zero correlation,”
Gannaway said.
Photos by Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
LEFT: Patricia Fagerland, owner of Forsythea, saw a 25 percent decline in Black Friday sales, but is optimistic that the best shopping
days are still ahead. “It’s a little flat, but I’m not discouraged at all,” Fagerland said. RIGHT: Tim and Jim Gannaway are the owners of
Gannaway Brothers. After some “slow patches” Jim Gannaway is cautiously optimistic after a recent rise in the U.S. GDP growth rate. “If you
end up with the economy recovering at the end of the year then you have a barn-burner Christmas,” he said.
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