Merchants talk 2020 Holiday season; Season wasn't hampered due to COVID

That was concerning! But things went well for Malta Merchants in December.

A couple of weeks ago, the PCN was alerted that the 2020 Christmas Holiday season featured less Malta Chamber Christmas Scrip than in previous years.

Despite the seemingly everlasting threat of COVID-19, it may be logical that numbers were down. The scrip total in the 2019 Holiday Season was $239,368. The total for the 2020 Christmas was $189,490, or a difference of $49,878.

Despite the deficit of almost $50,000 in the local currency, the PCN is proud to report that several businesses in the area did better this past holiday season than in previous years.

"It went really good," Avery Sorenson, Manager of Family Matters told the PCN. "Overall our sales were actually up. I think that a lot of people were forced to shop local because they weren't traveling as much."

Sorenson said that it was great to see local faces and the enthusiasm of what Family Matters had to offer.

Some of Family Matters' best-sellers included Hey Dude shoes and a new men's brand called Rural Cloth.

Sorenson also said that Christmas Scrip use was up last year.

Dara Wilke of Todd's Technology also had a good report for the 2020 Holiday season.

"Our 2020 Christmas season was up a little bit from the 2019 season," Wilke said. "We had really great sales and great customers, and we really appreciate all of the customers that let us help them out for the Christmas season."

Wilke said that Todd's Tech did really well with selling televisions, toys, and remote control cars.

"We have been carrying other toy lines like Spirograph, which has gone over really well," Wilke said. "It's kind of funny to carry that in the store because it doesn't take batteries."

Wilke said that the store also had success with the selling of flashlights, key smart, and Tile products.

Kayla Elkins, owner of Hardware Hank reported that numbers were up in her store as well. She mentioned that customers did not necessarily flock to any type of name-brand items, but the store served as a place for various home improvements around the county, more than usual, possibly due to COVID-19 and lack of travel.

"We had a great December," Elkins said.

She also said that she was thankful for all of the local support because, without it, Hardware Hank wouldn't have had such a successful season.

Elkins said that they offered Christmas decor earlier than normal and sold out. The store could not reorder some of those items, but general sales did really well.

Spare Change owner Valene Benson told the PCN, that the store's numbers were down, but not due to lack of interest.

"We were a little slower but it was harder to get items, so we had a lot less inventory," Benson said. "But we did notice a good handful of people making an effort to shop locally, so we appreciated that."

Benson mentioned that many of the stores' warehouses were closed or working with skeleton crews due to COVID-19.