Saturday, November 29, 2003
Shopkeeperssay shoppers areconservative this year.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
VOLANT, Pa. -- The antique-style rocking chair looked as comfortable a spot as any to Rose Mary Ruffner.
"You're much better off here than at the mall," said Ruffner, of Penn Hills, Pa., a Pittsburgh suburb.
Ruffner was taking a break in the rocker while shopping on the second floor of Volant Mills, a country gift shop that specializes in Amish wares and collectibles.
She and her niece, Rita Evon from Virginia, got to the small Lawrence County town known for its unique shops at about 10 a.m. Both were pleasantly surprised to find only a few other shoppers when they arrived.
But shopkeepers who rely on the Christmas shopping season said they were hoping business picked up later in the day and today. They feared the rain was keeping shoppers away.
"People are more content to go store to store in a mall rather than dodge the raindrops," said Bob Wiesen, owner of G. Wiesen Co. and Gifts.
Deals don't help
Great deals offered by large department stores on Black Friday, the nickname for the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, don't help either, he said.
"The earlier the large competitors open and the bigger the discounts, it affects us here," said Wiesen. "Tomorrow [Saturday] will be better than today [Friday]. They've [shoppers] already gone to the large department stores."
But Volant's specialty items and quaint shops were just how John Malicki and Alice Eakin, both of Bloomingdale, Ill., were looking to spend their post-turkey day shopping trip.
Visiting Eakin's relatives in Grove City, the two have made Volant a day-after-Thanksgiving tradition for the last three years. They, too, noticed the light crowds.
"Last year I had to wait in line just to look at some things," said Malicki, who was checking out of The Kitchen Shoppe with several bags. "There are a lot of insecurities today. People will be more conservative."
Shop owners say they also have noticed more conservative shoppers in the past few years.
Not spending
"A lot of people are looking, but they are not buying like they have in the past," said Gina Skody, owner of Attic Treasures. "People are leery about spending money because they don't know what's happening with the economy."
Kenneth Hunt, manager of the Music & amp; Art Gift Shoppe, agrees.
"They are buying what they want, but they aren't over-buying," he said.
But Karen Vernak of Wexford, Pa., and her three nieces hailing from New York and New Jersey say they were there to spend money.
"It's a Thanksgiving tradition in our family for the women to go shopping and leave the children home with the men," Vernak said.
They were buying treats for themselves and Christmas gifts for others, she said.
Angelica Fotos of Louisville, Ky., a friend who also was visiting Vernak, said they preferred the small-town Volant to the large shopping malls. "It sets a festive spirit, " she said.
cioffi@vindy.com