ANDERSON, Ind. —
Wednesday’s blizzard brought heavy winds and snow, disrupting holiday travel and cutting power to thousands of homes.
It also forced many retailers, like those at Anderson’s Mounds Mall, to close or shut down early on what is typically one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
The day after Christmas kicks off what some retailers call “second season,” when shoppers mob stores to return unwanted presents, cash-in gift cards and take advantage of deep discounts. The last week in December can account for about 15 percent of the month’s sales.
Terrel Taylor hit the mall Thursday and went home with a brand-new pair of Air Jordans he bought for 30 percent off their pre-Christmas price.
“That, and I got a gift card,” said Taylor, 18, of Marion.
Twenty-year-old Kelsey Davis said there were “a lot of big sales,” when she went to Mounds Mall on Thursday with nephew Carson.
She carried bags from Bath and Body Works, which slashed prices for some merchandise by 75 percent.
Carson’s stores had most merchandise marked down by as much as 60 percent, and some handed out coupons worth as much as an extra 20 percent off. Zale’s jewelers marked merchandise down by as much as 60 percent.
Retailers are counting on after-Christmas shoppers like Davis to recover from anemic sales figures this holiday season — the smallest year-on-year increase in sales since 2008.
According to a MasterCard report released Wednesday, holiday spending was up by only 0.7 percent this year. That’s a far cry from the 4.1 percent overall increase forecast by the National Retail Federation.
Find Baylee Pulliam on Facebook and @BayleeNPulliam on Twitter, or call 648-4250.
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