Retail sales mixed this holiday season

Even as online purchases fuel a nationwide increase of Christmas retail sales, local retailers are seeing something of a mixed bag — some sales are up, others are down in Newton.

Bonnie Terpstra at The Farmer’s Wife has seen a decrease in business this year compared to last year. Her November totals were down 22 percent, something she’s heard from other retailers, too, as the country deals with the effects of recession.

“The East and West coasts were first to go into the recession and first to come out,” she said. “The Midwest was last to go into the recession and last to come out.”

Locally, Newton has had its share of bad news that hasn’t helped shopping mentality either.

“The bad news we got with Iowa Telecom (being sold) — people aren’t knowing what to expect with that so they’re keeping it tight,” Terpstra said. “You get tired of all the negative news.

“It just isn’t what it used to be when Maytag was here, and it probably won’t ever be.”

She expects to weather the downturn and isn’t planning on going anywhere.

At Mattingly’s Music and Book store, owner Joan Mattingly said things could be better or could be worse this season.

Regardless, she’d like to see a level playing field for brick and mortar stores versus online retailers. Shoppers pay state sales tax at the physical store — 7 percent in Jasper County. That’s not the case, however, with most online retailers, who aren’t taxed by the state.

On big ticket items, like some of the instruments Mattingly’s sells, that can make a huge difference to shoppers.

“Why is it fair to tax the guy on the square but not the guy on the Internet?” Mattingly asked “At least make it halfway level.”

While some retailers see sales dropping or hover, Brown’s Shoe Fit owner Ben Dillehay has seen an increase of 40 percent over last year, largely attributed to offering some new styles.

“We did very well during courthouse lighting,” he said.

Regardless of where they were at last week, local retailers were hoping for a strong surge before Christmas to help push sales up.