Local Retailers Are Counting On A Big Finish For 2011

The holiday season is officially here and perhaps the only ones more eager than the kids waiting to open presents are the retailers waiting to welcome shoppers.

Josh Kalkhorst, senior property manager at The Village, estimates retailers at the Corte Madera shopping center generate 30-40 percent of their annual revenue between Black Friday and the end of December. Kalkhorst is also president of the Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce.

"In our business, holiday sales are predicted by the fall shopping season. We had a strong back-to-school season and that sets us up for a strong holiday season," Kalkhorst said. "We had a strong fall season and we've had a great few weeks in November so far."

On the other side of Highway 101, Corte Madera Town Center general manager Stan Hoffman also reports that sales there have improved overall this year.

And the real gift-buying season hasn't even started yet.

"People aren't gift-buying yet. They're taking advantage of gift offers for themselves," Kalkhorst said. "The big gift purchases come later in December."

According to Hoffman, "The way consumers shop has changed. People are being more conscientious of how they're shopping. That will likely be the case for some time. People are shopping more out of necessity. We might not ever get back to the free-wheeling days before 2008."

Still, the spirits are bright for a holiday bounty. Sales at The Village and the Corte Madera Town Center improved during the 2010 holiday season and Kalkhorst expects to see even better numbers this season.

That's good news for Corte Madera, which relies heavily on revenues from sales tax. A recent survey found that, while most of the shoppers at The Village and the Town Center come from Marin County, many also come from nearby counties.

"In general, our market is much bigger than Marin. We, throughout the year, draw 20 percent of our shoppers from Sonoma County and 15-18 percent from the north and west portions San Francisco," Kalkhorst said. "Downtown San Francisco is a hectic place to shop in general, but specifically during the holidays. A lot of people opt to come across the Golden Gate Bridge because it's less hectic here and parking is a lot cheaper."

But don't worry about the midnight crush for Black Friday. Aside from Macy's, Nordstrom and a few other chain stores, most retailers will open at the usual hour and await the late morning rush after everyone is done grabbing for deals at the big box stores.

"Most local retailers here are expecting to be busy Friday, but we don't have big box stores that get people here at midnight," Hoffman said. "Our Urban Outfitters store will open at 4 a.m. Friday, but most of the shoppers will arrive around 10:30 a.m. Most stores are optimistic to have a busy day on Friday."

Shoppers who can't find the perfect gift at the big retail stores on Black Friday might wander through the downtown shopping districts on Small Business Saturday. In a show of community support, consumers in recent years have celebrated the Saturday after Thanksgiving by patronizing smaller, locally-owned businesses.

Some shoppers turn to sales by local artists and library book sales in the hunt for unique gifts at affordable prices.