Local stores report 'good' holiday sales

By Staff
Melissa Cason
Franklin County Times
Local merchants reported good holiday sales this season with minimal returns after Christmas.
Factory Connection Manager Dianne Alverson said sales were very good this year – better than expected – and customers with ill-fitting items sought exchanges over refunds.
"Customers are exchanging items more this year instead of getting refunds," Alverson said.
Reduced prices in the store may have served as an incentive for customers to make exchanges instead of ask for a cash refund.
The story is similar up the highway at Burke's Outlet.
Burke's Manager Carol Swinney said the store had an "awesome" holiday season and almost no returns.
"Our [clearance] dots rotated (Wednesday), and we had people waiting to get in the store," Swinney said.
Next door at Peeble's, Manager Brenda Johnson reported "good" holiday sales with more post-Christmas exchanges than refunds.
"Most customers wanted to get something else because they didn't like it or it was the wrong size," Johnson said.
Other than taking down holiday decorations, the day after Christmas was fairly routine with rushes throughout the day, she added.
All three stores reported great holiday sales this year, which shows that a sizeable chunk of holiday dollars stayed in Russellville and Franklin County.
"I think all the rainy weather may have been a contributing factor in getting more people to shop near their homes," Johnson said. She added that the climb in gas prices may have been another factor.
"I did hear a lot of customers say that they were planning to do their shopping at home this year," Johnson said.