Merchants in Shawano County are feeling especially cheerful this holiday shopping season as they enjoy what many are calling the most robust customer traffic and holiday sales in many years.
“It’s been super,” said Emma Ebel, owner of Generations specialty store in downtown Shawano.
Along with other business owners, Ebel attributes the brisk holiday sales to consumers’ having more cash on hand because of the rebounding economy, falling gasoline prices and low utility bills during the mild winter weather.
Sales at Generations and elsewhere are running 10 percent to 15 percent ahead of last year’s holiday season.
“I’m excited about it,” Ebel said.
In Cecil, employees at Lake Breeze Cheese, Wine and Gifts have hardly been able to keep some of their most popular products in stock, including Green Bay Packers-themed bird houses and miniature sofa-shaped tissue dispensers.
“People just love them,” employee Carol Wegner said.
The eclectic Cecil store is drawing shoppers locally and regionally this holiday shopping season.
Dean Cramer of Langlade County was en route to visit family in Kewaunee when he stopped at Lake Breeze to pick up a few gift items. Cramer said he tries to steer clear of big-box retail stores and patronize locally owned establishments as much as possible.
A recent pension payout is allowing Cramer to indulge himself in more holiday shopping than usual this year.
“That was a nice blessing,” he said.
Not all merchants in Shawano County are feeling quite so jolly.
D&D Liquidators manager Terri Duellman said her Bonduel discount store has not experienced a particularly strong holiday shopping season so far. Duellman said the economic recovery is dragging, and Bonduel’s business climate has not rebounded from the loss of many businesses over the years.
After more than 30 years in business, customers still seek out D&D Liquidators for good prices on merchandise ranging from sporting goods to health and beauty supplies.
“It’s unpredictable,” Duellman said. “There’s good days, but nothing’s consistent.”
Business owners elsewhere say they have enjoyed a noticeable boost in business since holiday shoppers headed out in search of bargains and specialties starting a few weeks ago.
At The Rustic Shed in Bonduel, consumers have grown especially fond of newly introduced trencher boxes, which are handmade trays crafted out of aged barn wood for displaying candles or decorations.
Store owner Roxanne Tilleson said shoppers from as far away as Milwaukee have made this her best holiday shopping season since she opened The Rustic Shed three years ago.
The recent mild weather has helped, Tilleson said, because people do not have to battle piles of snow or frigid temperatures to go shopping.
“Every day is pretty nice for people to be out and about,” she said.
In downtown Shawano, Mojo’s Electronics has benefited from the newest Star Wars revival by finding customers anxious to get their hands on previous Star Wars movies, along with retro video games and new game releases such as Grand Theft Auto 5.
Not only is customer traffic heavy, but more people seem ready to spend a lot of money, store owner Amethyst Braatz said. She added that other businesses seem to doing well, too, because the city’s downtown business district seems more active than usual.
“It’s just like there are people everywhere,” she said. “And that’s what you want to see.”
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