ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080056
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A17 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
LET IT SNOW, say merchants whose sales have been hampered by unseasonably warm weather.
Could be that apparel retailers were the only people happier than school kids Thursday morning.
An unexpected snowfall - especially one that dumps some 8 to 10 inches of the white stuff - would seem an unlikely source of joy to merchants, who count on clean roads to bring customers to their shops.
But Thursday morning's dose of winter weather may be just what apparel retailers needed to finish digging themselves out of a sales slump. Their problems started early this fall, when back-to-school clothing sales wilted in unseasonably warm weather.
"It's only going to be positive," said Norma Carlisle, manager of the Sears, Roebuck & Co. store at Valley View Mall. Winter items - flannel shirts, thermal underwear, boots - were selling well Thursday, she said.
The last time a substantial snowfall was predicted for the Roanoke Valley - back in November - the 4 to 8 inches that forecasters were promising never materialized. The weather soon turned warm again, erasing thoughts of winter storms - and winter clothing - from customers' minds.
"Since we missed it the last time, nobody thought we'd get hit again," said Brenda Tester, who was shopping at Sears with her husband, Wes, and sons, Matthew and Andrew. The boys were trying on snow boots in the shoe department while their parents were looking at coats.
Tester, who lives in Roanoke County but works for Montgomery County schools, didn't have to report to work Thursday because of the snow.
"I got up at 3 o'clock this morning and looked outside," she said. "There were about 2 inches on the ground, and it was still falling, so I knew I could sleep in today."
Some retailers were concerned early in the day that the snow would keep customers at home. The malls never did become packed - this was, after all, a weekday - but by early afternoon there were more cars than snowdrifts in the parking lots.
"We've been surprised by the amount of people who have come out already," said Thurman Johnson, assistant manager of the J.C. Penney Co. store at Tanglewood Mall.
He was working with a minimum staff early Thursday, he said, because many of the department store's employees had been snowed in.
The snow also should put people in the holiday spirit, just in time to boost sales of Christmas gifts. While many Roanoke-area retailers have seemed to buck the national trend of sluggish holiday sales, an early dose of snow - as long as it doesn't hamper travel - can only help turn customers' attention to Christmas shopping.
By mid-afternoon, half a dozen shoppers were waiting in the gift-wrap line at the Leggett store at Valley View. Manager Tom Tyree said he expects Thursday's snow to bring out more holiday shoppers this weekend as well.
"We just need for it to turn winter and stay winter," said Tyree. "When it's 60 degrees outside and people are coming in with no coats and short sleeves, they're not going to buy winter clothes."
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff Vickie M. Rose ofby CNBRoanoke, who took the day off, decides to do some shopping after the
roads cleared.
2. STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS/Staff Ryan Palmieri, 4, tries out a
treadmill at Sears while shopping with his mother, Faith Palmieri,
and siblings Natalie, 2, Nicholas, 5, and Daniel, 6 months.