 All that was lacking that could have added to the Christmas spirit
on Lincoln's downtown square Saturday was a little bit of snow.
In the morning hours Santa sat perched upon his sleigh on the
courthouse lawn, waving to shoppers and motorists and encouraging
the little ones to come over and offer him some hints as to what
they would like to see under their tree this year.
In the local stores, merchants were seeing green! As the cash
registers rang out, the sound was more pleasing to them than the
sound of jingle bells.
In Mission Mart, shoppers were shoulder to shoulder, especially
in the clothing sections, and no small wonder. Every piece of
clothing, regardless of what it was, was 50 percent off.
One shopper made it to the cash register with a cartload of
clothing to be checked out by clerk Brandon Davis. She purchased
eight men's sweatshirts and long-sleeved tees -- some of them name
brands such as Joe Boxer and Haggar. She also had women's clothing,
slacks, cardigans, sweater sets and more, again with name brands
such as Liz Claiborne, Denim & Co., and Alfred Dunner. In all she
had 17 pieces of clothing, and with sales tax included, they
averaged less than $1 each.
"I look at the tags in the back of the shirts," she said. "See,
they are still shiny and stiff. That means if they've been
worn and washed at all, it was surely only a time or two.
Everything I bought here is like new, and yes, some of them will be
gifts."
At MKS Jewelers, owner Melody Shew was in the back room, working
on a piece of jewelry. "Don't take a picture of me," she said, "I'm
not really here."
Shew had left the Saturday shoppers in the capable hands of
clerks Teresa Luken and Brittany Colby. But, she explained, she'd
gotten a call that a customer was coming in who wanted to deal
specifically with her, so she'd dropped what she was doing at home
and came to the store.
This is a vivid example of what small-town businesses do for
their customers. One would not even expect the manager of a large
retail chain to sacrifice a day off at the request of a customer.
At Mary Todd Hallmark, owner Julie Tarter had also left the cash
register to her clerks, but she was there, walking through the
store, visiting with customers and checking merchandise.
Mary Todd was offering a variety of Saturday specials, including
"buy one, get one half-off" specials. And the customers were anxious
to get their hands on some extra-special deals.
Tarter has this year's "must have" toy front and center in the
store. She stopped for a quick picture with the Jingle Story
Buddy. Jingle is a furry little husky puppy who interacts with a
storybook read by children. During the reading process, when certain
words are spoken, Jingle responds.
[to top of second column]
 |
Going around the corner, things were really buzzing at National Rent
to Own. Manager Roger Matson smiled happily as he wrapped a contract
with a customer. "We've had a good morning! We've done several
contracts today," he said.
In the store, a couple who didn't want to be named were shopping
for new living room furniture. "It may still be a while before we
buy," they said, "But we wanted to come in and get an idea of what
we might want and what it will cost."
They named their favorite as a leather sofa and chair living room
package. The package included the sofa, chair, coffee table, two end
tables and two lamps for one price.
Down the street, David Lanterman and Brittany Reves were manning
the checkout at Bean & Such. As shoppers milled the room, looking at
the wide array of home décor pieces and checking out the various
flavors of coffee, David ground up a batch of Devil's Food Cake
coffee. He says for the flavor drinker who wants a rich, pure
chocolate coffee, this is the one they buy.
Lanterman said Saturday had been good day thus far for the
specialty shop. Black Friday, he said, was really not such a big
deal at Beans & Such, but then he surmised his little shop is not
the type where people come to use pepper spray on each other.
Once again, a vivid example of the differences between small-town
small business and larger chain stores, where frenzy seems to be the
order of the day on Black Friday.
Back up the block and on to Prairie Years, Kristin Brisbin stood
ready at the cash register as shoppers leisurely shopped through the
wide array of books, toys, games and more.
Next door at Abe's Carmelcorn, customer Cynthia Knutilla had her
purchases checked out by clerk Jessica Scohy while chatting with
store owner Helen Rainforth. Knutilla graciously agreed to step
behind the counter for a picture with Scohy and Rainforth.
In Lincoln, every day is important to the downtown merchants, but
it is holiday time that gives them the extra boost in revenues they
need to help carry them throughout the year.
Next week LDN plans to do some more shopping, and again next
weekend there will be drawings at the weekend's highlighted
business, the Arcade Café. Also being featured next week will be
Sherwin-Williams.
Both businesses are located on the south side of the downtown
square.
[By NILA SMITH] |
