Area businesses have success during top shopping weekend

By CHERIL VERNON

Community Editor



All over Palestine, retailers said sales were brisk as shoppers were out in full force to take advantage of Black Friday and after-Thanksgiving Day sales in search for Christmas presents.

The Museum for East Texas Culture hosted its Christmas Marketplace in the museum auditorium — with vendors selling items ranging from jewelry, clothing, handmade and miscellaneous items.

“I think we had a great response today. We sold a lot of cookbooks and ornaments and did a lot of pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus,” museum spokeswoman Joy Phillips said. “I think the vendors were pleased too and many said they want to come back next year.”

Special guests at the museum were Santa and Mrs. Claus, who were on hand for Christmas pictures for children of all ages.

At Beall’s, assistant manager Dana Henry said about 100 people were waiting outside the door for the store to open on Black Friday.

“We had a lot of buy one, get one free items and a lot of early bird specials,” Henry said. “Our sales were steady until about 8 p.m. Friday. We did fantastic — we did more than we expected to do.”

On Saturday, sales weren’t quite as busy as Friday, but Henry said there were lots of new faces.

“We had many shoppers who were from out of town, shopping while they were visiting family for Thanksgiving,” Henry said. “People were going for more essentials such as clothing and shoes, rather than cosmetics and perfumes.”

Brooke Johnson of Elkhart was shopping at Beall’s with her daughter Gracie, 7.

“We are looking at shoes right now,” Johnson said. “We did a little Christmas shopping today. I didn’t want to face the crowds Friday. But I wanted to see what the Christmas sales were.”

In the downtown area, the streets were hopping with activity on Saturday.

Santa’s Magic Workshop, located at 201 W. Main St. in downtown Palestine, opened Friday and will be open on the next three Saturdays as well on Dec. 5, 12 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It also will be open on Sunday Dec. 13, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to coincide with the Palestine Community Theatre’s matinee performance of “Bah Humbug” at the Texas Theater.

At Charles Dickens Jewelry in downtown Palestine, owners Linda and Charles Dickens were very pleased with the turnout.

“We sold a lot of giftware and lots of bracelets and earrings,” Linda Dickens said. “Bracelets so far are our biggest Christmas seller, usually our biggest is diamond studs.”

While traffic was good, the Dickens expect sales to pick up even more in the second week of December.

“Guys start to panic and know they can’t go wrong with jewelry,” Linda Dickens said.

The Dickens said the sales the last two years have been good — with many of the shoppers out-of-towners or those who just moved from the bigger cities to Palestine.

“We have a lot of people who say they just bought a farm or a ranch here,” Linda Dickens said. “Many of them just love to come to the downtown area, park and walk around everywhere.”

Janice Schwab, co-owner of L&L Shoes in downtown Palestine, said sales were a little “soft” on Friday and Saturday, but expects shopping to pick up in December.

“For many people, it just dawned on them that Christmas is here now that Thanksgiving is over, though I know some people shop a little all year long,” Schwab said. “In December, more people will be shopping for Christmas.”

One of their good sellers this year is the Twinkle Toe Sketchers shoes for little girls and the boots with rhinestones.

“We have a lot of sparkly shoes that will make good gifts this year,” Schwab said.

They also sell a lot of work boots and the SAS brand for adults is popular.

“Because of our economy, basics are going to be big this year,” Schwab said.

Free gift wrapping is something L&L offers to their customers.

“We’ve had some people shopping for Christmas who want the gift wrapping,” Schwab said, “but we’ve also had people who are shopping for themselves too.”

At the Co-Ed Shop in downtown Palestine, owner Linda Foster said jewelry, clothing, accessories and gourmet products were selling well on Thanksgiving weekend.

“Brighton is very popular and we have the Tyler Candle Company products which are very popular too,” Foster said. “Yesterday (Friday) was very brisk in sales. I anticipate traffic picking up a lot as people are just now getting into the swing of their Christmas shopping.”

Foster gave credit, as the other downtown retails did as well, for Santa’s Magical Workshop bringing in shoppers.

“We’ve had some traffic from Santa’s Workshop. The volunteers over there are doing a great job,” Foster said.

The Co-Ed Shop offers a free Christmas Wish List for those who want to fill out a sheet of their “wishes.” Then the person can let their family or loved one know they have a wish list available at the shop.

“They can come in and we will pull their Christmas wish list out so they can see if they want to purchase any of the items the person picked out,” Foster said.

Overall, Foster said jewelry, watches, bracelets, handbags and shoes were good sellers.

“I like to keep positive about the Christmas shopping season,” Foster said. “I encourage people to shop locally and give us a chance.”

At the Texas Art Depot in downtown Palestine, owners April and Mike Johnston said the after-Thanksgiving sales were doing well, especially their new line of wine products, Granny Muffin Wines.

“In reality, I thank God for this year,” Mike Johnston said. “Last September, due to the economy, we died. But our art sales picked up the first of October and November was an outstanding month. A lot of our business is online (www.TexasArtDepot.com), so those who buy art know they have to buy things early in order to have them shipped on time, especially if they need to get things framed. So our online Christmas sales start in November.”

Since opening Granny Muffin Wines at the Texas Art Depot, the wine sales have been good.

“We will have a special Christmas label coming out and we will have our grand opening on Dec. 10,” April Johnston said. “We have whites and reds, a little of everything. Our popular wines are Muffin’s Menagerie and Muffin’s Manna.”

The Johnstons plan to keep Granny Muffin Wines winery open late on Fridays and Saturdays until 8 p.m., with the side door open once the art gallery closes at 5 p.m.

“People can stop by for relaxation and taste our wine,” April Johnston said. “We have checkers and cards, no TV. We want to keep it relaxing so you can enjoy the conversation.”

Other popular items for wine connoisseur include wine stoppers, aprons and their metal art wine caddies that come in all shapes and designs.