Final shopping weekend before Christmas to be busy in Merced

Heading into the final weekend before Christmas, area stores and package-shippers are expecting a big final push in what has already been a successful month.

Mom-and-pop and big-box stores in Merced reported good sales starting on Black Friday and continuing through December.

Kelli Barkman said sales have been good at her downtown boutique, Kelli, but it’s too early to compare it to last year. “It’s hard to tell, but I feel like it’s been a good December for us,” she said.

The whole month is a boon to her store, which sells women’s and children’s clothes and accessories. Kelli participated in Small Business Saturday and Black Friday.

Also enjoying the busy shopping season was Christina’s Fine Clothing owner Christina Macha, who said she believes the on-and-off rainstorms lately have benefited local shops. When it’s rainy, she said, shoppers are less likely to get on the highway and head to another city.

Macha said she expects to see shoppers all the way up until the big day. “I feel like people are shopping and they’re excited,” she said. “I think the excitement is a little higher than in years past.”

Shoppers in her store, which sells women’s clothes and accessories, have told her they want to shop locally, she said.

The National Retail Federation has predicted that national sales in November and December this year will hit $616.9 billion, about 4.1 percent more than last year. If the estimate holds, it would be the first time since 2011 that holiday season sales increased more than 4 percent from the previous year.

The happier holiday shopping season – November-December sales provide about 19 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion – is anticipated because of an improving economy.

Area big-box stores said they saw a rush of shoppers on Black Friday, when they were selling electronics and other items at big discounts, and they don’t expect sales to slow down for the last shopping weekend. Many stores have extended their hours to 11 p.m. or midnight up until Christmas Eve to accommodate last-minute buyers.

Anthony Furtado, an assistant manager at Merced’s Best Buy, said “hectic” was the best way to describe the month. “Hectic in a good way,” he said. “Business is amazing.”

The store has had more inventory in stock than ever before, he said, because it expected high sales. Shoppers have been in all month looking for Beats by Dre headphones, Microsoft Surface tablets, TVs and many other gadgets.

Also particularly popular this year among shoppers, he said, was buying online and picking the items up at the store.

Electronics haven’t been the only hot sellers for big-box stores. JCPenney in Merced saw good sales of sweaters, blankets and small appliances, according to store manager Aracele Martinez.

Coupons and sale items will likely continue to draw traffic into the store through the weekend, she said, as students are out of school now. “Traffic has been responding really well,” she said.

While there are still five days to shop for Christmas gifts, the shipping window is shrinking.

Marina Holmes, co-owner of Mail Boxes Merced, which ships through FedEx, UPS and other shippers, said it’s not too late but shipping sooner will save gift-givers some money. Through Monday, she said, packages can still go through “priority mail” and likely make their destination by Christmas Eve.

“Once they go past Monday, then they’re going to have to start paying overnighting charges,” she said. “A lot of times what happens is the price of getting it there far exceeds the price of the present.”

Holmes recommends using flat-rate boxes, which can hold up to 70 pounds, and sending them out by Saturday.

The shipper saw a larger than normal amount of Christmas cards this year, she said.

The U.S. Postal Service has shipped 470 million packages nationally since Thanksgiving, according to spokesman Augustine Ruiz. That’s a 12 percent increase from last year. “More and more people are shopping online,” he said.

The Postal Service will continue to deliver presents even on Christmas Day in most metropolitan areas, he said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2014 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Final shopping weekend before Christmas to be busy in Merced."