Locals mixed about 2018
The businesses of Minden had mixed reviews on holiday sales numbers however none felt that this was a low year for sales.
Lisha Sykes of Say Baby said sales of local businesses are stifled by online shopping.
“With the days of Amazon and internet, it’s not what it used to be but I had a pretty good Christmas,” Sykes said.
Minden Floral said their December sales have held steady for the past two years however their busiest time, by far, is February.
Many have seasons that see upticks in sales such as Hers Bridal which is seeing a large boost in sales after the holidays. This is due to many Christmas engagements. The bridal boutique is expecting to see a continued increase through the Spring.
“Before the holiday, sales were terrible but as of right now we’re in engagement season so all of the guys are going to buy Christmas presents and New Year’s Eve gifts and they’re giving rings and proposing. So right after Christmas the floodgates open,” Hers Bridal owner Alicia Adams said.
Adams says that most of her customers are from out of town and shoppers are coming in from Shreveport, Monroe and some from Arkansas.
“We have 22 appointments, which is the most we ever had within a week,” Adams said.
Pink Pratique owner, Deborah Cooksey saw a similar trend.
“After the holidays our sales picked up, but not during the holidays,” Cooksey said.
Gray’s Jewelry saw an increase in December sales.
“Of course, December is one of our better months of the year. It was good this year. We didn’t sell as many engagement rings this year as years in the past,” owner Lonnie Gray said.
Gray said 2014 and 2015 were their best Decembers of sales, however this year was up from 2017’s sales.
“We’re trending the right way,” Gray said.
Sew Blessed on Main had double the business comparing December 2017 to 2018 since moving across Main Street.
“We did see a lot more traffic, especially in the last few weeks. We had a record December,” owner Tommy Garcin said.
Garcin and owner of Scarlet Gypsies, Monica Young attributed some of their positive momentum in sales to events that brought people downtown such as Small Business Saturday, the Christmas Cookie Crawl, and Main to Main.
“I had a fabulous season. It was wonderful. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Young said of Scarlet Gypsies’ first holiday season in downtown Minden.
Belle of the Bal’ did not see a large increase but co-owner, Paula McCann expects to see an increase as Prom season approaches.
“I would say sales were average compared to past years. Our next big season will be prom and we usually start picking up in February for that,” McCann said.
McCann said that more of her clientele comes from out of town as well.
AJ Price and Tire owner John Collins expects to see an increase in sales in the Spring.
“We don’t do a lot of Christmas business like we did 30 or 40 years ago but we still sell a lot of tires and it was pretty solid compared to last Christmas and the Christmas before.
Shake Those Pounds had a decrease in shake sales however gift card sales boomed.
“Our gift cards really carried us this holiday season,” owner Bob Gray said.
Overall there were various reasons many businesses didn’t see much of an increase in holiday shopping. However, most just have different seasons that usually prove to be the busiest depending on their wares and services.