BY ALEX CANTATORE
Come the day after Christmas, most Turlockers found themselves in a food-induced coma that will to last until New Year’s. But for some local residents, the day after Christmas was the sort of shopping day that only Black Friday can hope to compare with.
After all, there are presents to be returned and gift cards to be spent. And, of course, there are some big deals to be found as stores start to close out the merchandise that didn’t sell for Christmas.
Pier 1 Imports offered as much as 50 percent off Christmas goods on Friday, while Target was closing out wrapping paper and lights for pennies on the dollar. Other stores offered some savings, but not as much as some shoppers were hoping for.
Isaiah Rios of Turlock visited Circuit City on Friday to purchase a memory card for his new phone he had received for Christmas (”A Motorola something,” he said). While he and friend Kyle Reich were a little worried about the crowds, the lines ended up being the least of their worries.
“Was it busy?” said Reich. “No, but it was definitely pricey.”
Other shoppers did manage to find some outstanding deals, including John and Gwen Hogin of Turlock who made an early stop at Kohl’s. For just $1.29, the pair walked away with a $54 sweater and a $25 belt, thanks to sales and a $40 cashcard they had received from Kohl’s for shopping there before the holidays.
While the couple still had plans to stop by Borders before heading home, the lines were already starting to get to John Hogin.
“There were more than 30 people in line at Kohl’s!” he exclaimed, bemoaning a lack of checkers even though the store itself didn’t seem overly busy.
“You can only believe half of what he says,” said Gwen Hogin, who considered the lines more acceptable. “It’s a man thing-they don’t like standing in line.”
On a whole, the lines seemed to be quite manageable around Turlock. While the parking lots were crowded, the stores themselves were not as packed as one might have guessed.
The GameStop at Monte Vista Crossings was one of the few stores that was swarming with shoppers on the day after Christmas, with gamers from around the region hoping to take advantage of hot deals such as buy two get one free used games.
“There were a lot of people in there,” said Christian Fuentes of Turlock, holding a full bag of GameStop’s offerings. “They go crazy for games.”
While retailers around the country have reported lower sales this holiday season in the face of economic difficulties, a possible cause for the relatively light in-store traffic this year with fewer gifts to return, one major online retailer reported their best year ever yesterday.
Amazon.com announced that on their peak day of this year, Dec. 15, more than 6.3 million items were ordered worldwide. That amounts to 72.9 items purchased per second that day, which could be enough to push at least one retailer into the black this holiday season.
“We are extremely grateful to our customers,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We wish everyone happy holidays and the very best for the coming year.”
To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.
Originally published in the Turlock Journal 12/26/2008.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.