Clark County merchants expect an uptick in holiday sales to end a two-year losing streak.
Jan Teague, president and chief executive officer of the Washington Retail Association in Olympia, predicted that retail sales in the county could rise between 1 percent and 2 percent in the three months ending Dec. 21, compared with the same period last year. That would be good news, after store-only fourth-quarter sales plummeted 11.5 percent in 2008 and nudged down another 0.6 percent last year.
Some stores have seen signs of improvement even ahead of the official start to the shopping season.
“We’ve already seen a percentage increase over last year,” said Kolby Collins, store manager of the Rare Earth Decor gift shop in Ridgefield.
However, while parts of the state are expecting a strong 4 percent increase in holiday sales, Teague cautioned that in Clark County a few lingering issues continue to bear down on consumer confidence. She said local retail figures could be clipped by the county’s high unemployment, at 13 percent, and high home foreclosure rates, which affect one out of every 308 homes.
“It’s starting to get a little bit better in your area,” she said. “But it will still be a challenge for retailers to find out how much to order and what items people are looking for.”
Order too little, and they could miss out on the potential rebound. Order too much, and shopkeepers lose profit and are forced to offer deep discounts after the holidays. The dilemma hit retailers hard over the past two winter holidays, the industry’s most important selling season of the year.
This year, Clark County’s local and national retailers say they are getting a sense of renewed consumer confidence. And merchants are pulling out all the stops, going head to head with store incentives and customer service to bring revenues back in the black.
Gizmos and gadgets
“Based on what we’ve seen, the technology products are still at the top of the wish list,” said Jim Best, manager of the only Best Buy store in Vancouver at Southeast 164th Avenue and Mill Plain Boulevard.
But customers who want mobile phones, e-readers, game systems and computers also want product knowledge.
“We train our employees for months before they go on the (sales) floor,” Best said. The store increased its holiday sales staff this year, adding about 20 associates.
Even greeting card stores are focused on tech-hungry shoppers, said Patti Laird, a franchise owner of three Hallmark stores in Vancouver.
“What’s really hot right now are the read-aloud books,” children’s books that record a parent or other familiar voice reading the story.
Laird, who employs between 20 and 25 people in the three stores, said she sent six employees to her company’s annual merchandise seminar in Portland earlier this year. It was double the number of clerks she sent in 2009. It also was part of Laird’s attempt to increase training in customer service.
“Hallmark nationally always puts emphasis on customer service. There’s a lot of big-box and other retail outlets out there that we compete with,” she said.
Consumer relations
Smaller shop managers say customer service is their only chance at a leg up over their high-volume rivals.
“One of our biggest competitors is Home Goods,” said Collins, of Rare Earth Decor near Interstate 5’s Ridgefield exit. The new Portland Home Goods outlet at Cascade Station has forced Collins and her small staff to step up, she said.
“We try to work really hard on our customer service,” Collins said.
For example, the store tracks customer wish lists and offers special order and lay-away programs.
Teague said this year’s consumers, like last year, will be closely tuned in to terms like “value” and “thrift.”
Therefore, competition for budget-conscious shoppers will be fierce against retail mammoths such as Walmart, which operates three stores in Clark County.
Discounters rule
Teague expects discount stores, which get a price break for buying truckloads of merchandise, to compete heavily over toys this year. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer and other national chains also will flex their muscles in media blitzes on television and social media sites.
“The discount stores are still going to hold a pretty strong lead in sales because those are some of the things they do well,” Teague said.
In Clark County, department store and discount chains could see a slight shift in the merchandise focus of holiday gift shoppers.
“From the recession, we’ve seen a rise in customers who are looking for a value for their dollar. They are shopping the (sale) ads and buying more needed items than wants,” said Greg Gavett, 51, a Fred Meyer store director at the chain’s Fisher’s Landing store in Vancouver.
Extreme rewards
Like most other national chain stores, Portland-based Fred Meyer offers a rewards card program and will ramp up additional holiday incentives. The store is owned by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. and operates seven stores in Clark County.
“It’s one of our top priorities to make the rewards card the most used card in the customer’s wallet,” said Melinda Merrill, Fred Meyer’s director of public affairs.
Launched in 2005, the Fred Meyer program rewards loyal customers with cash incentives and coupon savings on produce, frozen foods and apparel.
“The more you spend with us, the more cash back you get back,” Merrill said.
Cross promotion
Retail executives expect to put in more hours this holiday season — selling, but also promoting their businesses.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to spend time developing relationships with the community,” said Paige Allen, general manager of Westfield Vancouver mall, Clark County’s largest shopping venue.
Allen, who took the reins of the center in April, said she plans to walk the mall, answering questions and gathering public feedback. Other store owners say they will band together to promote their shared business sectors with marketing materials and events.
“Cross promoting is a big thing we do,” said Carrie Schulstad, owner of The Uncommon Gift shop in downtown Camas. “One of the things that’s so strong about Camas as a merchant community is we do work together.”
