Published: December 31, 2008 10:02 am      

Local businesses fare well this holiday season

CLINTON — During the current economic tough times, worries surfaced nationwide concerning the retail holiday shopping season.

However, according to several members of the Clinton business community, this area did not see as many problems as other communities in the nation.

“I think this area as a whole is doing a little better than other areas in the country,” said Don McKinley, general manager of Paul’s Discount, 1940 Lincoln Way.

McKinley said they had initially been unsure about what to expect for the holiday season with the current economy. He said the store has experienced a rather successful year, which carried over into the holiday shopping season.

“We had an excellent shopping season,” said McKinley, adding, “Everything’s been real good. We don’t have any complaints.”

Steve Bamman, director of the Downtown Partnership, said the retail area saw a mixed holiday season for shopping. Bamman said this year was a difficult one for retailers. However, he said a business’s success depended on the products and services offered.

“I think the downtown district focuses on unique products and services, which helps them,” said Bamman. He said this year was a very unusual one for retailers. However, he said in comparison to other locations, the downtown district retailers did reasonably well.

According to Julie Allesee, president of the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, local businesses have also done well with the purchasing of River City Gold. She said within the past four years — since the encoding system of the certificates changed — $950,925 of River City Gold has been purchased. While the numbers for this December have not been calculated, $25,180 in River City Gold was sold in November. Allesee said the December amount is expected to be much larger than the November amount.

She also added this number tracks certificates bought in bulk by groups, but does not include the instances when a person may purchase just one certificate for someone.

Allesee said River City Gold helps the local retailers. The certificates are redeemable only at businesses that are a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

“We feel good about it and we know that these purchases have to be made locally. And that benefits our members,” she said.

Sheralyn Bartels, a member of the Lyons Business and Professional Association, said the Lyons District also saw a good holiday shopping season.

“People driving to Main Avenue have wondered what is going on because so many cars have been parked along the avenue during shopping hours,” said Bartels.

Bartels said everyone was worried how the economy would effect the holiday shopping season. However, she said the area ended up pretty fortunate, having a rather good year. In addition, she said the post-holiday season is bringing the businesses many shoppers as well.

“We have been pretty fortunate that people who got money or gift cards have been coming in and spending it locally,” said Bartels. She said she feels Clinton has been rather lucky.

“Just when I listen to the news and hear about how it is in the rest of the country, I’m glad to be in Clinton, Iowa,” said Bartels.