Rocke's post-holiday sale draws crowd

by Beth Brown

SBJ Staff

Holiday shoppers put away the wrapping paper and turkey Dec. 26 and came in droves to Rocke and Company.

The store, specializing in gourmet foods, home decor and bath and body care, saw nearly 20 times the number of customers it normally sees in a day.

"It just went hysterical," said Rocke Jordan, co-owner of the store, regarding the popularity of Rocke and Company's day-after-Christmas sale.

But this was no normal day. A tradition is in the making with Rocke and Company's day-after-Christmas sale, with shoulder-to-shoulder Dec. 26 crowds at the store.

"It just has snowballed," Jordan said. "We would normally run an ad on Christmas day about the sale, but last year we started the advertising a week beforehand."

That was the year people waited outside the door before the store opened. Jordan said 1,200 to 1,500 people walked through the doors Dec. 26, 1997, leaving him with an incredible feeling.

"Exhilaration," he said. "I just was on cloud nine."

"I just remember it got so overwhelming, maybe half an hour after we had opened," said Todd Reynolds, co-owner of the company.

1998's day-after-Christmas sale was not as hectic, but still drew a crowd.

"All in all, it was just a very pleasant day actually," Reynolds said. "We were surprised."

Advertising of the sale was cut down in '98 so money could be spent on the company's latest expansion a new store in St. Louis, which opened in June. That was just one reason why fewer than 1,000 people showed up for the 1998 day-after-Christmas sale.

"I think this year, part of the reason we didn't do as much business is we got cleared out on inventory earlier in December, and it was almost gone by the time we had the sale," Jordan said. "So as people came in beforehand to scope out what was available, they found that there wasn't as much there."

Reynolds said the 1998 holiday season overall resulted in good revenue.

"The whole season was great. Just unbelievable," Reynolds said. "Our sales were still almost comparable to last year, which really surprises me. I don't know how we did that."

Reynolds said he will continue to mark items at lower prices through the middle of January.

"We'll just keep marking stuff down until its gone," he said.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Tina Garner, left, and Ashley Garner look at holiday merchandise during the early hours of Rocke and Company's day-after-Christmas sale.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Todd Reynolds bags merchandise for a customer during the day-after-Christmas sale.[[In-content Ad]]