Dec. 26--For retailers, the day after Christmas means long gift-return lines, discounted merchandise and a lot of gift card processing.
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (KRT) via NewsEdge Corporation :
Dec. 26--For retailers, the day after Christmas means long gift-return lines, discounted merchandise and a lot of gift card processing.
At Wal-Mart in Council Bluffs, 3201 Manawa Centre Drive, even Santa Claus was after the discounts this morning.
Council Bluffs resident Ron Payne, 60, has volunteered as Santa at Rue Elementary School in Council Bluffs for the past 15 years.
He loaded two carts full of discounted, plush Christmas animals, along with body lotion and fragrance gift sets, to give to the students and teachers next year.
"I shop all year long for this, but I load up after Christmas," Payne said. "I didn't have a lot as a child, so I just want to do something for the kids."
He used a gift card to buy some of the gifts, something retailers expect the day after Christmas.
Gift card sales in the United States will total $24.81 billion this holiday season, an impressive $6 billion increase over 2005, when gift card sales hit $18.48 billion, a retail federation said.
The average consumer is expected to have spent $116.51 on gift cards, up from $88.03 in 2005.
Kyle Cross, product process manager at Best Buy in Council Bluffs, said the mornings will be slow this week, but he expects a rush after 5 p.m.
"There'll be a lot of gift card redemption," he said. "People will be buying the accessories for the gifts they have already received."
At Wal-Mart, more than 12 shopping carts labeled with signs such as electronics, crafts and toys were set up by customer service to keep the returned items organized. The store authorized only refunds, no exchanges, in order to keep the lines moving.
According to the retail federation, retailers can expect 8.8 percent of holiday gifts to be returned, up from an annual average of 7.3 percent.
Amy Ambriz, 42, of Omaha tried to return a guitar that attaches to a gaming system, only to find that the right item was out of stock.
"I want a guitar and I want one now," she told an employee at Best Buy in Council Bluffs.
Ambriz said returning gifts was the worst part of the holiday shopping season.
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