Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sales are hot when the weather's cold
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Anna White tries on Ugg boots at Bush-Flora Shoe Co. at Towers Shopping Center. Several local retailers are stocking up on boots in preparation for a potentially snowy winter.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Different styles of Ugg boots line shelves at Bush-Flora Shoe Co. at Towers Shopping Center.
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Popular Christmas songs conjure up images of cold. Jack Frost nips at your nose in "The Christmas Song." Tree tops glisten in a "White Christmas." Cheeks are nice and rosy in "Sleigh Ride."
Beth Davis of Bedford County associates chilly temperatures with the holiday season. Cool air and cloudy skies on a recent Friday afternoon gave her a dose of holiday spirit as she stopped to shop at gift and decor store Steger Creek in Roanoke County.
"This is the first day I got excited about shopping for Christmas," said Davis, a teacher at Hidden Valley High School, who said she is more likely to splurge on nondiscretionary knickknacks or holiday decor on cool December days.
Door buster deals and buy one, get one free offers are not the only shopping draws during the holidays. Some people tie a holiday mood to cold weather. Local retailers say holiday shopping traffic often is at its busiest when the weather outside is cool with some snow flurries, though not enough accumulation to impede travel.
It's not unusual for a change in weather to evoke subliminal clues that cue a holiday feeling or emotion for consumers, said Margie Johnson, a Virginia Beach-based retail consultant.
"Like the seasons change, you have mind shift changes," she said. Some retailers clearly play on such clues with marketing designed to evoke emotions or holiday memories, such as hot chocolate commercials or the smell of baked cookies in a store, Johnson said.
One local retailer said there's an obvious uptick in shopping when weather temperatures during the holiday season turn cold.
"If we have warm weather, people put off their shopping," said Michael Pace, who owns Steger Creek stores in Roanoke County, Blacksburg and Forest. Cold weather "sort of makes them start thinking, 'Christmas is around the corner,' " he said. "It affects people in a positive way."
Though difficult to measure, sales likely are higher at Steger Creek when the weather turns chilly, with little or no snow, Pace said.
So far, weather patterns for this year's holiday season are in line with many retailers' wish lists. Temperatures were cold but dry during the busy shopping weekend after Thanksgiving, according to Weather Trends International, a firm that provides weather forecasting information to businesses. Snowfall trends in December also will be lower than they have been in the past four years and not likely to mirror December 2009, when a major snowstorm blanketed much of the East Coast, including the Roanoke Valley, on the weekend before Christmas. Early predictions forecast mild and dry weather for the Roanoke Valley.
Cold temperatures or snow in November are good for retail sales because they drive purchases of sweaters, scarves and other cold weather gear, said Bill Kirk, CEO of Weather Trends International, based in Pennsylvania.
Still, "you do want enough cold weather" in December. "If it can be cool and dry ... that's the ideal scenario and enough to keep you in that winter mindset," Kirk said.
Also, consumers are more likely to make impulse purchases for cold weather items that they may consider both necessities and potential holiday gifts, he said.
Light snowfall boosted shopping at Linda Lampros' children's apparel and toy shop in Roanoke last weekend, when the area's first snow of the season fell.
On warmer days during the holiday season, people often turn their attention to outdoor decorations, such as buying Christmas trees, she said. On those days, her store, Primarily Kids, is "dead as a doorknob."
"I don't want a whole heck of a lot of 70-degree days," Lampros said.
Similarly, Ena Clifton of Roanoke County said she could not bring herself to shop for Christmas if outside temperatures were 70 degrees and sunny. "It doesn't feel like you should be Christmas shopping," said Clifton, a Roanoke Valley native. "It's supposed to be cold," which for her means cooler than 50 degrees.
Cold weather during the holidays evokes sweet memories for Adrienne Thrasher, who lived in West Palm Beach, Fla., until she was 15 years old. She remembers wearing shorts on hot Christmas days. But she also remembers cold Christmases visiting her grandmother, who once lived in Radford.
"I loved Christmas here because of the weather," said Thrasher, who shopped earlier this month at Steger Creek.
Now, she lives in Botetourt County, and cold December temperatures give her an "urgency" for the holiday's arrival.
Still, she's not keen on driving on snow-covered roadways.
"I don't want any accumulation," Thrasher said.
Staff writer Kevin Myatt contributed to this report.
