By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
Washington business owners, store managers and artisans on Tuesday offered mixed reviews of down-to-the-wire holiday sales.
“We have a flurry of a lot of people looking for small gifts,” said Lori Morgan, manager of Petals &Produce on John Small Avenue.
The store wasn’t taking in its typical number of Christmas-tree buyers, though.
“We’re kind of down on our tree sales this year,” Morgan noted.
Best-selling items included pecans, sweet potatoes, collards, dip mixes and other food stuffs.
“We’re selling that now, thank the Lord,” Morgan said.
Traffic was beating expectations at Second Go Around, a consignment and second-hand shop east of town on U.S. Highway 264.
“It’s going real well,” said owner Lisa Latham. “It’s more traffic than what I thought. I thought it would be dead this week.”
A number of customers were purchasing furniture as Christmas presents for family members, Latham stated.
“People are buying necessities,” she said.
Though things were going well Tuesday, “I guess with the economy you never know what’s going to happen,” she added.
The wheels of commerce were also in motion on Main Street, albeit a slower-than-average motion.
Several merchants said foot traffic was down, though some pointed to anecdotal evidence that gifts and clothing were moving out of the district’s stores at a fair clip.
“People are looking for things on sale because of the economy, and they’re looking for deals,” said Dawn Benthall, owner of The Pink Petal, a Main Street gift shop.
“They are wanting deals because we have not bounced back from this economic crisis,” Benthall related, indicating her 50-percent-off Christmas sale.
Benthall expects yuletide sales to turn up roughly in line with last year’s totals.
“November was a rough month,” she said.
She indicated that she’s hoping for a post-season rush from shoppers who’ve been given the gift of green — money.
“They get Christmas money and they go at it,” Benthall said with a laugh.
Around the corner, at Pamlico River Antiques on Market Street, co-owner Diane Smith said her business doesn’t rely on Christmas sales.
Smith said her busiest moments come in fall and spring, when tourists trek through the area.
“If they travel they do not buy like they used to,” she said.
Though sales are higher compared to this time last year, she couldn’t attribute the uptick to the season’s giving.
Back on Main Street, artist Linda Evans was busy sketching a pencil portrait of a small child at Inner Banks Artisan Center.
“This year’s been a little slower than past years,” said Evans, who does portraits of pets and people.
Yet, potential customers were passing through the center, which opened a few weeks ago.
“We’ve filled up fast,” Evans said of the artisans’ booths.
“We’ve got some great traffic,” added Bob Henkel, who owns the center along with his wife, Karen Krupa.
The center hosts 40 artisans, he said.
“Everybody seems to be very positive about their experience here,” Henkel commented.
Ditto for Dottie Walker, who displays her hand-painted scarves and tissue-holders in one of the booths.
“I’ve had a good year with my scarves, and I’m just having such a good time,” Walker said.
Back at The Pink Petal, Benthall summed things up with cautious optimism as zero hour approached.
“So far, it’s been good,” she said.