Santa Maria holiday shopping busy in stores and online
With the days counting down to Christmas, Central Coast stores, malls and shopping centers are buzzing with activity. But not everyone is buying merchandise as the trend in local retail continues to shift online.
The sound and sights of the holiday season fill the Santa Maria Town Center Mall.
The hustle and bustle is there but not everyone is buying.
{“title”:”Santa Maria holiday shopping busy in stores and online”,”version”:”1.0″,”provider_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/”,”author_name”:”KEYT – KCOY – KKFX News”,”width”:480,”height”:270,”thumbnail_url”:”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WTEmEjaaT84/hqdefault.jpg”,”author_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/user/KEYTKCOYKKFXNews”,”url”:”https://youtu.be/WTEmEjaaT84″,”html”:”n&#lt;iframe width=” 480″ height=”270″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/WTEmEjaaT84?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”&#gt;&#lt;/iframe&#gt;n”,”thumbnail_width”:480,”provider_name”:”YouTube”,”thumbnail_height”:360,”type”:”video”}
“If its something where I know my size, like pants or shirts, I just do it on the internet, I don’t like to go shopping in stores”, says Herb Pregozen who was nonetheless shopping with his wife Lorraine in the Town Center Mall Wednesday night.
“I just finished yesterday, I spent a ridiculous amount of money”, says mall visitor Jamie Sauls who says she did most of her holiday shopping online.
Mall merchants like Sam Herath and Sue Ellen Wormley are counting on a rush from those who still prefer to buy merchandise in person.
“Its alright, doing pretty good, getting busy”, Herath says inside his Luxury Perfumes store in the mall, “getting ready for Christmas.”
“You have to come in and take a look at the quality of diamonds, the prices the best bargain they have”, Wormley says outside Daniel’s Jewelers where she works, “sometimes we have a promotion, buy one get one for free, and this is the best time of the season.”
As online sales continue to surge so does speculation about the future of traditional retail and indoor shopping malls.
“When its clothes I buy them in person, I can’t do that online”, Lorraine Pregozen says, “the only thing I buy online is sneakers.”
“I think we’ll always have malls”, says mall visitor Makaela Thomas.
“I still kind of thinks its like a dinosaur”, Jamie Sauls says, “I did a lot of shopping online this year, I feel like especially this mall its like as the years go on less and less people are coming.”
“Yeah but I think its something for people to do, especially when you live in a small town”, Makaela Thomas says, “its something for you to get out and do.”
Despite the growth in internet retail sales, the U.S. Commerce Department says the majority of American consumers still prefer to shop and buy merchandise in person rather than online.
