Holiday profits put stores back in black

Many stores around Bloomington have recently stocked their shelves just in time for Christmas with gifts to suit every whim and need. Stores such as Barnes & Noble, Radio Shack and Victoria's Secret have holiday items on sale to lessen the dent shopping can make on the customer's pocketbook.\nOverall retail sales on the first day after Thanksgiving jumped 4.8 percent from last year to this year and totaled $7.2 million, according to ShopperTrak.\nModern Trends, a hair salon in College Mall, said the most expensive items are the most popular in the shop. \n"Girls are telling people who would actually get them the most expensive item to go out and buy it for them," said Adrienne Kinser, a sales associate at the salon. \nShe said the most expensive items are flying off the shelves, and they have had to re-stock several times. The hair salon's Chi Flat Iron is going for $175 and the Alterna White Truffle Luxury conditioner and shampoo is going for $130. Both are selling fast.\n"College girls love their Chi Flat Iron," Kinser said. \nModern Trends isn't the only store not giving into the traditional Christmas sale. The athletic shoe store Finish Line is leaving its best-selling shoe at its normal price. The Nike Shox running shoe for both men and women is selling well, store manager James Lietz said, but it will not be going on sale. The shoe is $99.99, and comes in black, with air pockets on the bottom. Though the Nike Shox are not on sale this season, Finish Line does have the popular quilted retro jacket on sale for $20.00 off.\n"Anything with a retro license has been popular," Lietz said. \nGame Stop, a store that caters to video game and movie fans, has also seen an increase in sales.\nRon Kolhouse, store manager, said the Playstation 2 has been doing very well this season.\n"I haven't seen so many go in such a short amount of time," Kolhouse said. \nThe game system is selling for $179.99 and will not be going on sale. Kolhouse said the Eye toy, an accessory that goes with the PS2, is also selling well at its current price of $49.99. \nThe prices have not stopped consumers from buying. Kolhouse said he has had a surge in business over the last three weeks.\nHe said Mario Cart, a Game Cube system game, is popular at $49.99, and Need for Speed Underground is popular for all systems at $49.99 also. \nAlong with the game systems, other electronics are also popular during the holiday season. Radio Shack is catering to its customers by putting some of its most popular items in stock on sale. Justin Koharchick said the store's biggest seller is the DVD/VCR combination. \n"It is popular because no one buys tapes anymore," he said. "They buy DVDs, but many people still have tapes."\nKoharchick said the best deal is a Cinevision DVD/VCR combo on sale for $119.99. \nThe Verizon Wireless phones are their most popular phones said Mike Kloage, a sales associate. He said many customers are opting for the LGVX 6000 camera phone that is $149.99 and $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. The phone is very popular among college students, mainly because of its versatility. The camera phone allows users to see a picture of the person calling, send pictures, access the Web and download, and has games, ringer tones and voice-activated text messaging. \nDVDs have also been successful this holiday season said Julie Drake, store manager of Barnes & Noble. The store has 15 of its top-selling DVDs discounted. "Down with Love" and "Anger Management" are 15 percent off, "Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life" is 20 percent off and "Lord of The Rings," the special edition with 43 minutes of new and extended scenes, a four DVD set is $39.99 with 15 percent off. \nThe jump in entertainment is not surprising, and has been tracked by financial experts. \nVisa reported consumers whipped out the plastic 13.3 percent more than last year, with notable gains in travel and entertainment, according to the Wall Street Journal.\nMusic has been selling well at Barnes & Noble, especially local artists, Drake said. Joshua Bell, a violinist and graduate of IU, has released a new CD that has been successful over the holiday season. \n"A lot of people come in and buy it because he was an IU student, but once they hear it they get hooked," Drake said. \nDrake said the "American Idol" Christmas album is also doing well, as is Harry Connick Jr.'s Christmas album "Harry for the Holidays." \nThe buying trend for this year seems to center around electronics and the most expensive items in the store. If it is popular, don't expect it to be on sale. If you need it, expect to pay full price. \nBut most stores hold after-Christmas sales, said Cathryn Lee, store manager at Eddie Bauer. \n"We don't know until after Christmas what is going to be on sale in January and February," Lee said. "If we don't do well, then we will have a lot on sale; we have to make room for our spring transitions."\n-- Contact staff writer Patrice Worthy at pworthy@indiana.edu