Holiday shopping #1
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Tomorrow (Friday) marks the kick-off of the holiday shopping season. For many businesses the next four weeks are a make-or-break time for the entire yearShoppers will be out en-masse the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many stores will open early…some as soon as 5 a-m. Business owners hope those customers will be carrying lots of cash or credit cards and leave with bags stuffed with merchandise. Economists say it’s been a sluggish year for retailers but it is expected to pick up. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says the impact of the Internet is becoming a bigger force. He says while shoppers brave the stores this weekend...online buying kicks off next week.

“And one of the theories is, that consumers will shop at bricks and mortars stores Friday through Sunday and also talk with their friends and relatives about gifts and then they go online on Monday. The idea is to maybe find some of things they have discovered at bricks and mortar stores for cheaper prices.”

Van Auken says the online shopping season wraps up around mid-December because after that, internet retailers often have a difficult time making deliveries. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Holiday shopping #2
Lewis
For: 11-24-05 PM / 11-25-05 AM


Shoppers will brave the malls and stores tomorrow (Friday) to cash in on the first major holiday sales. This time of year is an important one for retailers as they try to make up for a sluggish beginning of the season. W-G-C-U’s Russell Lewis has more.

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Economists are expecting this year’s holiday buying period to be marginally better than last year. They predict a sales increase of five or ten percent. Online sales are projected to be as much as 20-percent higher. That’s due in part to more bricks and mortar stores offering free shipping and discounts on their websites. Florida Gulf Coast University Marketing Professor Stuart Van Auken says toy sales have dropped the last couple of years...but what is UP are sales of electronics to children.

“So what we’re seeing is a movement away from so-called traditional toys into like consumer electronics geared for kids. And the trend for this Christmas is smaller, but higher-priced. And so it’s sort of like small items are in including consumer electronics at maybe a higher price.”

Van Auken says that’s good for retailers because smaller items take up less space so they can stock more and make a bigger profit. Russell Lewis, WGCU News.

Vehicles streamed out of the Florida Key Monday, in response to orders from authorities to evacuate. The Keys evacuation covers 40 thousand residents—southwest of the 7-mile bridge – plus tourists. Tolls were suspended and—according to state officials—there’s ample gas. But, Governor Jeb Bush says conservation measures—adopted in the wake of Katrina—need to continue.

“That’s the new reality, particularly as Katrina’s impacts have not been fully compensated yet. They have not fully built capacity back up, so any kind of impact on supply, and that’s not just hitting the refineries but also shutting down the ports for imported oil, into the areas, New Orleans, Houston, Corpus, where fuel comes in, if the storm is approaching and gasoline has to be diverted we have to be managing that and be concerned it, which is why it’s important for all Floridians to conserve both gasoline as well as electricity.”

Gasoline prices in Florida have come down since reaching a high mark of about 3 dollars a gallon for regular unleaded—immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

The past year has been tough for business on Sanibel and Captiva Island, but economic analysts says the outlook is optimistic. Wendy Humphrey reports.

Imagine – it’s mid afternoon. A 5:00 deadline for a major report looms. Your energy level lags. Time for a cup of coffee – the think drink. Valerie Alker had hers and then prepared this report about a pair of brothers in Naples who’ve turned the nation’s passion for coffee into a successful livelihood. (AUDIO)