Business stock up for rush

SIKESTON - Shoppers may be out in full force today,

but with extra manpower and plenty of merchandise,

businesses are ready for them.

Their first Christmas to be open in Sikeston, Lowe's

called in all its forces to work on what they are

referring to as "Super Friday." "We're open our normal

hours today, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and everyone not on

vacation will be working today," noted Tyler Russom,

store manager. "We're having no freight come in and

we'll all be on the floor to help our customers."

Russom revealed that the biggest value of the day is

on batteries. Buy one, get one free, except those for

lawn tractors.

"It's been pretty crazy around here this morning,

especially early this morning. We've got some great

specials today only. We tried to spread out the

specials so everyone would find something, including

tool items which normally sell for $30-$40. A corded

drill, for instance, is on sale for $19.83. People are

really coming in for those tools. We had 67 circular

saws and in 30 to 45 minutes we sold out. There are

still a lot of people in here, but now they're mostly

doing their normal Christmas shopping. I enjoy it,

this is my favorite day to work."

JC Penney opened at 7 a.m. today and won't close its

doors until 9 p.m. Mike Burchett, store manager,

pointed out customers saw probably some of the best

values during the door buster specials from 7 a.m. to

noon when there were items off an extra 10 percent.

"Our first hour was super, people were lined up at the

door," Burchett said this early today. "Actually,

there were a little more than usual. We're tracking

ahead of last year. We've done everything to prepare

for today," said Burchett. "We've received

merchandise, added extra tables with specials and put

extra stock in every department. We're looking forward

to giving our customers the best they can get

anywhere, not just in Sikeston, but other outlying

areas. We can compete with anyone."

The early bird gets the worm - or the porcelain

ornament, in the case of those who enter Goody's

today. Opening at 6 a.m., Goody's customers received

the free ornament while supplies last and on it is a

sticker that is worth anywhere from 10-50 percent off

the total merchandise purchased. After the ornaments

are gone, said store manager Zelma Lutes, customers

had the opportunity to receive a scratch off card

revealing 10-50 percent off the total purchase.

And according to employees, the morning got off to a

good start with customers lined up on both sides of

the doors. One store manager described the morning as

both impressive and having "extremely busy sales." "We've done a lot of teamwork to get ready for today,"

Lutes said. "We've been working on it for two weeks

and it's taken every bit of that time. We've done a

lot of recovery, remerchandising our racks and double

stacking to make sure we are ready for the big day.

We'll have a full staff to make sure we meet our

customers' needs. It's going to be a great day and we

want to make sure it's exceptional for our customers."

The Sikeston Factory Outlet Stores are open from 8

a.m. to 9 p.m. and many will feature early bird

specials until 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. "We had shoppers on

the parking lot at 7:30 a.m. and people are already

hauling off bags. All of our employees are really

excited about today," Lisa Neumeyer, manager, reported

this morning.

"Once we started putting up our Christmas decorations

I think everyone really started getting into the

Christmas spirit. It's a big day, people come out in

droves. Going shopping the day after Thanksgiving is

tradition more than anything. I think people wait

until the day after Thanksgiving and get that holiday

out of the way and then they really get serious about

Christmas shopping."

Employees also enjoy a good buy and many wait until

this time of year to make their purchases because of

the sales. JC Penney employees, for instance, are

given opportunities to shop on special occasions.

And Lowe's employees take advantage of special buys,

themselves. "I'm waiting to buy several packs of

batteries myself, that's a really good deal," Russom

said. "You get up to five free packs so there's 10

packs of batteries right there."

Goody's associates were given a special sneak preview

of the sales their store is having on Wednesday night

when they could obtain items for 30 percent off. "It's

just an extra advantage for our associates," said

Lutes. "Our employees will be working all weekend

while everyone else will be taking advantage of all

the good sales so this is what we wanted to do for our

associates."

"It's going to be hard to have to come into the office

and work when I know where all the specials are out

here," joked Neumeyer.

Most stores aren't anticipating being affected by the

recent terrorist attacks. In fact, Burchett said he's

added more help than last year in preparation for a

big turnout. "I've added 10-15 percent more. I think

we'll have a good weekend, it hasn't been apparent yet

to us that this Christmas season will be slower than

usual. I'm sure some people have been affected, but

we're ahead of last year."

"We really aren't seeing that either, a lot of our

stores are seeing sales better than last year," added

Neumeyer. "I don't think people are tightening up

their wallets like it was believed they might do. As

we worry about all that's going on, I think people

want to do these things and really make this Christmas

extra special this year. It's about giving and I think

under the circumstances, people are wanting to give

more than ever."