Sarasota-area retailers say sales are strong
Retailers across the U.S. are experiencing a typical pause after the rush of Black Friday-inspired sales, but many Florida merchants seem to be reveling in a sustained post-recession uptick this season.
“Our customer traffic has been extremely strong, which has been very encouraging for the season as a whole,” said Sam Davidson, marketing director at Westfield Corp.’s Southgate Mall, in Sarasota.
“Since Black Friday, it’s been steady all the way through this past Sunday,” Davidson said.
Retailers across the U.S. are experiencing a typical pause after the rush of Black Friday-inspired sales, but many Florida merchants seem to be reveling in a sustained post-recession uptick this season.
“Our customer traffic has been extremely strong, which has been very encouraging for the season as a whole,” said Sam Davidson, marketing director at Westfield Corp.’s Southgate Mall, in Sarasota.
“Since Black Friday, it’s been steady all the way through this past Sunday,” Davidson said. “We haven’t experienced a lull at all.”
At Westfield’s other Southwest Florida property, Sarasota Square Mall, customer traffic is up roughly 5 percent from this time in 2009, mall officials have told retailers there.
“We expected things to taper somewhat, because we had such a strong Black Friday this year,” said Bob Parker, general manager of the J.C. Penney department store in Sarasota Square.
“But, percentage-wise, we’ve seen strong growth since then,” Parker said. “I attribute it, in part at least, to more snowbird and foreign customer traffic than we’ve had in past years.”