Clark County retailers face tough holiday season

Gift shop owner Carrie Schulstad, right, helps customer Mary Murray with a purchase in The Uncommon Gift, a store Schulstad and business partner Amy Rose opened four years ago in downtown Camas.

Teri Case, owner of Avon at Westifield

Mike Merrill, owner of Pro Golf

Lana Leake looks over Christmas decorations at the Vancouver Plaza Target store, one of three Clark County locations for the Minneapolis-based retailer. (The Columbian/ N. Scott Trimble)

Mary Sisson

Keith Koplan

Clark County merchant Carrie Schulstad is determined to make the most of what could be a bleak holiday selling season at her Camas gift store this year.

And she isn’t the only shopkeeper who is making adjustments.

Consumers are pinching pennies, worried about the economy, said Schulstad, 41, co-owner of The Uncommon Gift in downtown Camas. That’s why she has joined with neighboring Camas store owners to sponsor events, such as a Friday-night tree-lighting ceremony in the center of town. The business group hopes to elicit more spending by setting the mood.

“We can’t control consumer confidence, but we can make sure they have a good experience in our stores,” Schulstad said.

Her strategy is just one example of the steps local retailers are taking in the countdown to what could be their slowest fourth quarter in more than six years.

Clark County store sales are expected to decline by between 6 percent and 10 percent in the three months ending Dec. 31, compared to the same period last year. It would represent a huge change for the local retail industry, which saw healthy year-over-year fourth-quarter growth until 2007. That’s when countywide retail sales slipped by 0.2 percent to a total of $561.8 million, according to the Washington state Department of Revenue.

A 10-percent drop in fourth-quarter sales would drain more than $56 million from the local economy and Clark County retailers, who employ about 16,400 people.

To offset sliding sales, some merchants are stocking up on the season’s must-have gift items and offering deeper price cuts to attract cautious shoppers. Others are paring back inventory and some have hired less holiday help.

Vancouver store owner Teri Case said hiring less seasonal help “will mean working more hours myself.” Case, 50, owns and operates Avon at Westfield, a Westfield Vancouver mall cosmetics store.

Her shop’s staff includes herself and two salespeople, she said.

“Last year, I had three people,” said Case, who cut back in anticipation of slower sales. She opened the store in 2005.

But Case said her store’s year-over-year sales have held steady through October. She attributed the stability to lower price points for merchandise that is similar to department store products.

“Avon is the McDonald’s of cosmetics,” Case said.

Deal-seeking consumers are also keeping tabs on their spending at the Target store at Vancouver Plaza, said Dana Town, the store’s executive team leader.

She has noticed Target shoppers utilizing discount coupons from a store catalogue distributed earlier this month.

“People are looking for bargains,” said Town, 23, who was hired less than a year ago to help lead the store’s staff of about 145 employees.

The Minneapolis-based Target chain is expecting sales declines of between 6 percent and 9 percent in November and December, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company operates more than 950 stores nationwide and three stores in Vancouver.

“We’re projected to do a little bit less than last year because of the economy,” said Town, who expects brisk sales of this year’s top toys: the Nintendo Wii gaming system, Elmo plush toys and the Leapster learning systems.

Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us are her store’s largest sales competitors, Town said.

“Target is considered a discount retailer for the middle-class family,” she said.

Higher-end retailers are also showing signs of a struggle this year, said Mike Merrill, co-owner of Pro Golf, a Hazel Dell Towne Center shop that offers golf equipment, clothing and custom golf services.

“In the Portland-Vancouver area, eight independently owned golfing stores have recently gone out of business,” he said.

Merrill blamed the uncertain economy for a 20 percent drop in his store’s sales in recent months.

“We’re in the ‘want’ business, as opposed to the ‘need’ business,’” said Merrill, 43. “Groceries are a ‘need’ business.” Merrill has postponed store deliveries and marked down some inventory to offset slower sales, a move that he hopes will generate more business.

“Golfers are going to buy from you anyway because it’s their passion,” Merrill said, although he blamed his store’s slipping sales, in part, on Clark County’s plummeting home-building industry.

“Our bigger customers have been the Realtors and home builders. Now we can’t count on them,” Merrill said.

Local home sales that were down by 33 percent through October have also affected furniture stores, said Keith Koplan, 66, owner of Koplan’s Home Furnishings in downtown Vancouver.

“Our sales are down significantly,” said Koplan, second-generation owner of the store at 1012 Washington St. The store was established in 1948.

Koplan predicted big-ticket sales would continue to slide into 2009, primarily because cash-strapped homeowners can no longer secure the home equity loans that helped finance those purchases.

Slowing home sales and declining values limited the ability to obtain loans, which homeowners routinely borrowed against.

“The ATM known as your house has shut down,” Koplan said.

He is counting on advertising specials to bring people in, but Koplan said many shoppers are simply postponing their furniture purchases, leaving him little to do but tighten the belt.

“We’ve cut our expenses to the bone. We’ve had some attrition and we haven’t replaced the staff,” Koplan said. “You postpone any discretionary expenses and wait it out.”

Other downtown merchants say they’ve noticed a sales boost for small-ticket items.

“We have to work hard to be a destination” that draws shoppers into the downtown core, said Mary Sisson, 55, co-owner of Kazoodles toy store at 575 W. Eighth St.

Sisson said her store’s sales increased by 24 percent through the first half of November, an uptick helped along by a glossy catalogue she mailed to 5,700 customers this year.

Sisson has also noticed that more customers are being thrifty with money, as they carefully decide on each purchase.

“They are looking, taking notes and making cell phone calls. They want to make sure they are getting the right thing and their money is being spent wisely,” Sisson said.

Cami Joner covers retail for The Columbian. To reach her, call 360-735-4532 or send e-mail to cami.joner@columbian.com.