On Retailing

Tuesday, December 5, 2000

Convenience stores stock up on impulse items

Novelty gift sales increase as shoppers tire of big stores

For about a month, Cheryl Williams had been looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for her son-in-law. Three days ago, she looked on her convenience store cash register.
   Williams, manager of the Speedy Stop No. 55 at 5602 S. Padre Island Drive, said her son-in-law has wanted a Shelby Mustang all his life, so buying the toy model sitting on her register just made sense.
   "He's one of these hard-to-buy-for people," she said. "This is probably the closest he's going to get to the real thing."
   Those types of novelty items have picked up in sales at the store with the holiday season, jumping to $2,200 in November compared with $1,200 to $1,500 in non-holiday months, she said.
   The jump comes despite - and in some ways, because of - the store's location between Padre Staples and Sunrise malls.
   "It's convenience," she said. "When you get to the malls, everybody in town is trying to shop."
   Many local convenience store merchants have begun to see themselves as a Christmas gift-shopping alternative.
   Holiday shopping looks to do a little better than last year, reaching sales of $196 billion to $198 billion for the season, compared with $186 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
   Most of that shopping is expected to come in the final days before Christmas, when about 50 percent of last year's holiday spending occurred. That's when many convenience store owners expect increased sales as buyers grow tired of long lines and clogged shops.
   "They wait until the last minute," said Mary Luna, manager of Uncle Sam No. 42 at 5645 Kostoryz Road. "It gets busy. It gets real busy."
   Shoppers won't just snap up stocking-stuffing trinkets, either.
   While smaller items such as candy or key chains are bought, Luna said, the store's normal stock of toys, such as popguns and plastic frogs also will go fast.
   At area Circle Ks, hot items already include scooters and dolls.
   Sales up for holidays
   James Zamora works with R&B Sales, a Mesquite-based distributor of novelty items. He delivers to the 43 Speedy Stop stores in South Texas, supplying them with toy cars, plush toys and stuffed animals. He and Williams said there's usually little problem selling the items these days.
   "It's really picked up with the holidays," Williams said.
   Still, some retailers said convenience stores aren't holiday shopping destinations.
   Impulse buyers
   "It remains the same," he said. "People like to go to the big places."
   And even for those who do see the increases, the trend is a little surprising.
   "It's not much variety," Luna said, pointing to the store's toy aisle. "But I guess it's a little faster than being in a big place with a lot of people."
  Sam L. Susser is chief executive officer of SSP Partners in Corpus Christi, which operates Circle K convenience stores and gas stations throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Unlike several other convenience stores, his chain has brought in items specifically for the holidays, such as stockings and toys. , Even then, he said, he doesn't expect increased sales unless shoppers come looking for non-holiday items., "The folks who are buying those items are probably more impulse buyers," he said. "I think very few people seek out our doors for Christmas gifts.", Nisar Ahmed, president of NN Business Inc., which owns the Coastal convenience store at 2214 Leopard St., also doesn't expect the store to become a Christmas shopping destination., On Retailing is published every other Tuesday in the Caller-Times business section. The column includes news of new, relocated and expanded businesses in the Coastal Bend, plus retailing trends and profiles. Ideas may be submitted to: On Retailing, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, Texas 78469; e-mail Michael Hines at hinesm@caller.com; fax items to (361) 886-3732; or call (361) 886-4316.
  

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