Retailers Roll Out Post-Christmas Sales, Shoppers Hit Stores
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- The day after Christmas is a big shopping day. Before the sun even came up, shoppers were hoping to cash in on after-Christmas deals.
"That's why we get up bright and early. We went to bed at 8 o'clock so we have enough sleep. When you go to bed early, it pays to come out early," said one shopper.
At Kohl's in Roseville there were people ready to shop when the doors opened 5 a.m. Sunday.
Shoppers looked for bargains to burn up those gift cards, or maybe exchange gifts they didn't really want.
Stores count on the days after Christmas to help overall holiday sales. The upcoming days are only 10 percent of the 61 holiday shopping days. But they can account for more than 15 percent of spending.
A lot of shoppers also hit the Mall of America on Sunday. The Mall was expecting 100,000 shoppers.
A spokesperson said they expect holiday revenue for stores at the Mall to rise 8 percent over last year. That's much better than the nationwide prediction of 3 to 4 percent.
But that would be the biggest increase since 2006.
At Best Buy in Richfield there was a line for returns. Anything purchased at that store after Nov. 1 can be returned until Jan. 31. Employees say this won't be the only day for returns.
"It's pretty spread out throughout the week so, although we'll probably see the most of it today," said Eric Link, Best Buy Customer Solutions Manager. "Throughout the week you'll see peak times where people will come in and the lines will get backed up over the day so, we're ready to handle from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. pretty much throughout the week. We're spread out to handle the people coming in and returning the products."
Link said the shopping season before Christmas went over really well. He said the snow made some days pretty slow, but in the days leading up to Christmas, they saw a lot of customers.
WCCO-TV's Dennis Douda and Liz Collin Report
