Now that the Christmas sales rush has slowed to a trickle, local storeowners have a chance to punch their numbers and see how their businesses fared this holiday season.
A number of businesses in St. Albert’s downtown Perron District reported steady sales over Christmas despite pockets of the country still feeling the effects of the recession.
“I think it was pretty much the same. I haven’t looked at the numbers but I think sales-wise it was about the same. It seemed busier,” said Gisele Sinclair, who co-owns the Candy Bouquet on Perron Street.
“Definitely Christmas is our busiest season,” she said.
Unlike other businesses, the Candy Bouquet did not notice a drop in sales when the recession hit, said Sinclair.
“I think candy is recession-proof because people will still justify having their favourite treat. I don’t think it’s hit as hard,” she said.
“Having said that, the steady growth that we had noticed, because we’ve been in business for 11 years, kind of tapered off. All things considered, it was good.”
Although he only opened up his doors several months ago, Brian Carlson, owner of Seriously Green, was happy with the amount of business he saw over Christmas.
“Actually we were really pleased. It was real steady for us and that’s nice to see,” Carlson said.
“We noticed a lot of people coming in to buy stocking stuffers or last minute gifts. They have friends and family that are environmentally friendly and environmentally aware so they would just come in and buy some gifts for them,” he said.
“We’re hoping that it’s not going to be a big lull after Christmas but we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Vineyard Wine Market, which opened Dec. 1, saw steady sales, according to owner Terry Mahoney.
“I’d say more steady than busy but it was a good month for us to have our first month being open,” he said.
Busy was also steady for The Bookstore on Perron, according to employee Angela Chatwin.
“I don’t know if there was anything different. We were fairly busy up until Christmas Eve so that was nice,” she said.
“December was busy but the months leading up weren’t that busy.”
According to Statistics Canada, retails sales skyrocketed in Alberta this past fall. In October, the province saw just over $5 billion in retail sales, an increase of 0.7 per cent from the previous month and up six per cent from one year ago.
Consumer spending is one factor that contributed to rapid growth across the country earlier this year as well, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The other factor, housing activity, is expected to cool in the months ahead.
The chamber warns that consumer spending might also slow down as Canadians pay off some of the unprecedented debt accumulated during the recession and recovery periods.
According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, all provincial economies are expected to expand in 2011, led by resource-based economies including Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.
