{"id":4612,"date":"2010-12-17T13:52:58","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T19:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=4612"},"modified":"2010-12-17T13:52:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-17T19:52:58","slug":"holiday-sales-a-little-better-than-last-year-some-merchants-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4612","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Sales A Little Better Than Last Year, Some Merchants Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Carol Arnett<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the economy still affects local businesses, there were hopeful signs in 2010, expressed by some key local business owners.<\/p>\n

Ryan Reeder, co-owner of Golf Club Liquidators, has been pleased by consumer reaction to his new storefront business in Old Town Florissant.\u00a0 The company started as strictly an on-line business for golfers to purchase discounted golf equipment.<\/p>\n

“We needed a store location because of the large volume of business we were doing on line.”\u00a0 The Old Town location \u00a0on rue St. Francois \u00a0has worked well for him and his family. The storefront allows Golf Club Liquidators to have much more inventory including many of the top names in golf equipment like Callawyt, PING, Cobra, Titleist, TaylorMade, Wilson and Nike. They still do on-line sales, but now have a popular store location and held a successful \u00a0Black Friday weekend sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s better than last year,\u201d Patty Sosa, owner of Dooley\u2019s Florist in Old Town, said. \u201cWeddings have come back a bit after having been down the last four or five years.\u201d Sosa said that weddings were down industry-wide, not just in this area.\u00a0 However, she said, she\u2019s been seeing more young brides with traditional weddings.<\/p>\n

Sosa said she\u2019s worked this year on upgrading her website. \u201cI tried to give it more attention,\u201d she said, \u201cwith new pictures and an updated look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sosa said that several items were popular this Christmas season. \u201cWe have Christmas arrangements in really pretty bowls that you can re-use. It\u2019s a nice alternative to the traditional containers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dooley\u2019s also has Christmas arrangements in a red vase with a bracelet, necklace, or ornament on the vase. \u201cYou can give flowers and a gift that way,\u201d Sosa said. She said she was also very happy with some silk wreaths the shop has.<\/p>\n

Another long-time Old Town business, Don Henefer Jewelers has experienced a better last quarter than it did last year, said jeweler \u00a0Jerry Ahlert. “Customers are still watching their spending like they did last year, but our holiday sales have been a little better than last year,” Ahlert said.<\/p>\n

At Goeke\u2019s Produce,<\/strong> things are looking up after a rough few months. The produce store moved in November 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until the bridge closing, we were doing great,\u201d said owner Karen Wibracht. \u201cThat pretty much knocked the wind out of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wibracht said the busy season for the store is usually from June through the end of October. St. Ferdinand Street was closed for the bridge repair from June until mid-October.<\/p>\n

Despite the road work, Wibracht said she loves the new location. \u201cOur flower season was the best yet,\u201d she said. \u201cWe doubled our capacity with this location.\u201d<\/p>\n

The larger location has also allowed the store to carry more items. They have over 240 different spices and seasonings.\u00a0 The also carry dip mixes, salsas, jams and jellies, as well as smoked meats.<\/p>\n

Wibracht said they can customize gift baskets. They can make an all fruit basket, or they can use any other products in the shop to make a unique basket for anyone on your list.<\/p>\n

Handyman True Value<\/strong> has a long track record in Florissant. Owner Dave Otto said that 2010 was about the same as 2009. He said that recently, he\u2019s seeing more customers spending money on items for their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re starting to spend more on do-it-yourself projects and things for around the house, from lawn and garden items, to plants to patio furniture,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing people improving their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otto said that the store is doing well with a combination of aggressive pricing, hard work, and a great selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was the first year we had black Friday specials,\u201d he said. This year, the store once again had black Friday items. \u201cThe hot items this year were pet pillows and pet airbeds,\u201d Otto said. \u201cPeople loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, for the first time, the store will have overall markdowns on Christmas items starting on Dec. 18.<\/p>\n

Otto said he still has great deals on tools, accessories, flashlights, and other good gift items. Even after working in the hardware business for years, Otto said he still gets excited by new merchandise. \u201cWe have a lot of things that I would like as a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barb Hicks said that her store, Keeven<\/strong> Appliances,<\/strong> was doing about the same as last year. She said the economy has affected her business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re selling a lot of parts,\u201d she said. \u201cMore people are fixing instead of replacing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to sell a few appliances every year for Christmas,\u201d Hicks said, \u201cbut not this year.\u201d However, Hicks said that now was a good time to buy appliances. \u201cYear-end is always a good time to buy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carol Arnett While the economy still affects local businesses, there were hopeful signs in 2010, expressed by some key local business owners. Ryan Reeder, co-owner of Golf Club Liquidators, has been pleased by consumer reaction to his new storefront business in Old Town Florissant.\u00a0 The company started as strictly an on-line business for golfers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florissant","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nHoliday Sales A Little Better Than Last Year, Some Merchants Say - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=4612\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holiday Sales A Little Better Than Last Year, Some Merchants Say - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Carol Arnett While the economy still affects local businesses, there were hopeful signs in 2010, expressed by some key local business owners. 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