Despite tragedy, retailers have positive view of sales, economy

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The horrific events of Sept. 11's commercial airline hijackings and crashes at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon gripped the attention of the world. |ret||ret||tab|

The ensuing disruption to daily routine and commerce was great; however, many retailers now report seeing business re-turn to levels near normal.|ret||ret||tab|

"With the exception of the day that it happened, we've been pretty steady here," said Stacy Cook, operations assistant for The Home Depot, 2104 E. Inde-pendence. |ret||ret||tab|

He added that since then, the store has maintained its customer flow. |ret||ret||tab|

Karen Ramos, spokesperson for Osco Drug, 1735 S. Glenstone Ave., said its business rebounded quickly after Sept. 11. "Like all retailers we no-ticed that the first couple of days after the disaster, business was a little soft," she said, She attributed the downturn to people's focus on the news, and added, "Since then our business has returned to normal."|ret||ret||tab|

Dan Fogt, manager of Target Stores, 1825 E. Primrose St., said, "We dropped probably 20 percent to our plan" on Sept. 11, but except for that day "It hasn't affected us at all. We're running the same trend that we were running before this happened."|ret||ret||tab|

Mike Murphy, manager for the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Nixa, said his store also has held steady in sales. |ret||ret||tab|

He added, however, that the tragedy, combined with indicators already pointing to a possible economic recession, gives people "an uneasiness about the fall and the future." He noted that consumers are often "hesitant about buying items that are not durable goods" or "basic commodities" when the economy slows.|ret||ret||tab|

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Christmas expectations|ret||ret||tab|

Walgreen Drug Stores sales since Sept. 11 have not drastically changed, according to Carol Hively, corporate spokeswoman for the chain. She said the company is expecting a "very strong Christmas," in part due to the state of the economy. The type of merchandise Walgreen carries, she said, is more affordable "when times are difficult and people are being laid off."|ret||ret||tab|

Target's market niche as an "upscale discounter" has its advantages, Fogt said. "I think when the economy gets rough like it is now, people are going to go to your discounters before they would go to the department store." He added that store "trends are very positive," and that he anticipates a strong Christmas season.|ret||ret||tab|

Ramos said Osco hasn't altered its earlier forecasts for the upcoming holiday season. Projections are calculated from previous years' experience, she said, "and we haven't made any adjustments to our sales estimates or haven't backed off our merchandising plans." She added, "We'll just have to wait and see what people do."|ret||ret||tab|

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Travel reluctance|ret||ret||tab|

Murphy said that the persisting reluctance of people to travel by air indicates that they haven't gotten "back to normal yet." Should this attitude continue through Thanksgiving, he said, it "could in some ways help an area's sales, like in the Midwest" if people purchase items at home rather than at locations elsewhere. He added, however, that consumers might still have reservations regarding their Christmas spending if "their feeling about the economy" is uncertain.|ret||ret||tab|

The tragedy did spark a nationwide surge in the market for patriotic merchandise. |ret||ret||tab|

Hively said there was a "sudden demand" for patriotic objects and "the public wanted not only flags, but anything they could find with flags on them, from T-shirts to lapel pins." |ret||ret||tab|

As Walgreen's quantities of such items dwindled, she said, "local districts would buy merchandise" as it became available.|ret||ret||tab|

Cook said Home Depot's customers displayed a similar interest in purchasing items to display their sentiments. He added that store sales overall were normal "except for flags, of course. A lot more people have shown their patriotism as far as buying flags." [[In-content Ad]]