Many local shop owners describe this holiday season as typical as they recover from reduced business during November storms.
“We were never actually closed for the weather, but sales were down 50 percent or more on those days,” said Michele Adolphsen, owner of Bay Variety at 135 W. First St. in Port Angeles.
“That is hard to recover from coming into Christmas.”
But sales did pick up, and she said they ended up to be comparable to those of last year.
“We had a good year, and it was better than we actually would have expected,” she said.
With a little less than half of her year-long business coming from the holiday season, Adolphsen said her biggest shopping day this year was the Saturday before Christmas, just as it is every year.
Now that Christmas is over, holiday items at her store are 50 percent off.
“I would much rather sell them than store them,” Adolphsen said.
Greg Elliott, manager of Pacific Rim Hobby, 138 Railroad Ave., said that Christmas and the weeks that follow are by far his busiest time of year.
“We work all year to get ready for this,” he said.
The store, which has been in business for 16 years, sells specialty items including military models, train sets, radio control cars, boats and airplanes.
Elliott said the store met its holiday sales expectations even after bad weather, such as the snowstorm on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
“We were starting to see good sales when the snow hit,” he said.
“They dropped off after the snow, but I think that it just delayed shopping rather than canceled it.”
People who receive train sets or other items as gifts, often come back to Pacific Rim for accessories, which leads to elevated business for more than a month after Christmas.
“We begin to prepare and stock the store in June and July,” Elliott said.
“It is very interesting and a lot of fun for weeks before Christmas and we stay busy through January.”
Kevin Thompson, president of the Port Angeles Downtown Association and owner of Family Shoe Store at 130 E. Front St. in Port Angeles, admits he didn’t have high hopes for sales at his store due in part to the slow economy and recent storms.
“It is hard to make up the loss when you lose a few days of business,” he said referring to closure due to snow.
Thompson said that Christmas typically is not a busy time for his shoe store and described sales as flat-lined.
“Our Christmas time is basically June, July and August – those months are by far the biggest because of back to school,” he said.
“We may do a few slipper sales around Christmas, but there aren’t going to be a lot of overall sales.”
Mary Gotham, owner of the Toggery at 105 E. First St., in Port Angeles, said that December is absolutely her store’s biggest month and that she was satisfied with the outcome this season.
Jean Haught, owner of Dungeness Bay Wine and Cheese in Sequim, said sales far exceeded expectations this holiday season.
“We thought we could do 10 percent better than last year,” Haught said.
“But we actually did 40 percent better.”
She contributes her success to a change of location and customers choosing to support the Sequim community by doing their shopping locally.
The store, once located on Cedar Street, is now at 123 E. Washington St.
Jo Ann Allen, owner of Fern Gallery in Forks, said her store had a typical season.
Her store sells art, unique cards, gifts, toys and fresh flowers.
Allen said that November is usually a busy month for her store, but this year things were different.
“I really didn’t know what to expect because November was down this year because of the storms,” she said.
The business at 11 N. Forks Ave., was forced to close three times in November due to power outages.
But it rebounded in December, selling a large number of toys, candles and bath products to Forks residents.
“A lot of people tell us they make a point to shop local,” Allen said.
“We’ve had an excellent Christmas holiday season in terms of business,” said Cliff Erickson, manager of the Port Townsend branch of Swain’s Outdoor, 1121 Water St.
Erickson said the snow that fell in late November and dampened sales for many businesses actually increased sales at Swain’s, even though the store had to close early on a few snow-blanketed days.
“Bad weather is good for our business,” said Erickson.
Art Edralin, manager of Hadlock Building Supply, 901 Nesses Corner Road in Port Hadlock, reported similar holiday results.
“All-in-all, sales have been very good,” Edralin said.
He said contributing factors were special promotions and sales the store had, like opening at 4 a.m. on “Black Friday” – the day after Thanksgiving.
“That had overwhelmingly good business,” Edralin said.
Hadlock Building Supply also carries weather-related items like snow shovels and de-icer, which brought in good business during the weather events in November and December, he said.
Marilyn Staples, owner of Green Eyeshade, 720 Water St., Port Townsend, said sales this holiday season have been good, despite some nail-biting moments earlier in the season.
“I was a little worried going into the Christmas season,” said Staples. “But people weren’t discouraged.
“We’ve made up for the few days of snow by now.”
She said kitchen items were what people were purchased this year.
And there is currently a sale on Christmas-related items to further help stimulate holiday business, Staples said.
Kristin Huber, manager of Wandering Angus, 929 Water St., Port Townsend, agreed that the snow and wind put a temporary dip in sales, but the store that sells Celtic items rebounded and is experiencing holiday sales up from last year.
“We bounced back from the bad weather,” Huber said.
“We made up for whatever loss there was from that.”
Judy Hartman, owner of Imprint Bookstore, 820 Water St., Port Townsend, said despite the weather-related sales lull, business was comparable to last year.
“It seems at least as good, or maybe a tiny bit better, than last year,” Hartman said.
