Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. Prices on the riseFigures released from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week show grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year. General comments: tmc@tmcnet.com. Comments about this site: webmaster@tmcnet.com. As for local authors， the Green Toad is selling a lot of copies of "Captive! The Story of David Ogden and the Iroquois，" co-written by Dr. Ken Stalter of Franklin， she said. Also hot is Walton author John Verdons murder mystery， "Think of a Number."Pondolfino said it seems most of her customers come from Oneonta， and many are familiar faces. "Its been a bit of a slow start， but its starting to pick up，" Decker said. "I have sold a little bit of everything."Decker said Sportsman Adventures has a kiosk in Southside Mall， not only intended to sell the stores products in another location， but also to steer traffic to the shop in Hannaford Plaza， which specializes in hunting and fishing gear and apparel. Technology Marketing Corporation， And gas prices this month are the highest they have been in more than two years. December is typically a period of lower gas prices， but this holiday season consumers are expected to pay more at the pump than any previous year at this time， according to the American Automobile Association. But Decker said he believes the economic downturn may finally be catching up to the Oneonta area and a lot of people may be living paycheck to paycheck. Bill Decker， owner of Sportsman Adventures， attributed the lull at his store in part to the two-week pay cycle of one of the areas biggest employers -- Walmart. Workers at the behemoth retailer represent a big part of his customer base. Ph: 800-243-6002， 203-852-6800; Fx: 203-866-3326 Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. New Yorks unemployment rate remained above 8 percent in November， although it fell .6 percent from the 8.9 percent recorded a year earlier. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. Her 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter will understand if there arent as many presents under the tree this year， she said. With Christmas Eve this Friday， shoppers were lining up at cash registers at many stores during the day Thursday at the Mall， which is home to several locally owned businesses such as the Country Junction. Gell， who co-owns the store， with her husband， Larry， is in her second holiday season at Southside Mall. It is shaping up to be better than her first， probably because more people know about the store， which sells home decor， candles and crafts， she said. Popular titles this year include Steve Martins "An Object of Beauty，" Keith Richards "Life，" Stacy Schiffs "Cleopatra， A Life，" Jonathan Franzens "Freedom" and "The Autobiography of Mark Twain，" she said. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. Evenings during the week have been quiet， and there was a bit of a lull after Black Friday， she said. "From our perspective， it has been bustling and vibrant，" Pondolfino said. "It seems like people are very festive this year."Pondolfino said the store had a great Black Friday， and business has been steady since， especially weekday afternoons after about 3. In the holiday spiritThe recent snowfall has heightened the holiday spirit in downtown Oneonta， according to Green Toad owner Michelle Pondolfino. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Serwholesale apLocal businesses wishing for glad tidings [The Daivice Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. wholesale apLocal businesses wishing for glad tidings [The Dai，Local merchants， facing competition from big-box chains and Internet retailers， are banking on the Christmas rush to help them end the year on a high note. Based on recent data from the National Retail Federation， retail sales -- excluding automobile， gas station and restaurant receipts -- are expected to rise 3.3 percent. This is up from the NRFs earlier forecast of 2.3 percent. Better than expected salesNationally， the holiday season retail outlook has improved over earlier projections. "Candles are the most popular thing in the store，" said Gell， who makes them as part of the wholesale side of her business. "I think they are happy with whatever they get. They know its been hard lately，" Duncan said. Season so farAll three business reported banner Black Friday sales. But each had a similar tale: Their shoppers didnt start arriving en masse until later in the day， most likely after pillaging chain retailers of typical Black Friday fare such as electronics. "Everything is going up，" said Jessica Duncan， who was Christmas shopping at FYE at the Southside Mall with her mother， Carolyn Duncan. "The start to the holiday season has surpassed all expectations，" NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "While employment data is still a concern， we are starting to see improvement in other economic inwholesale appareldicators that support an increase to our forecast. To sustain this momentum for retailers and the U.S. economy， there must be a renewed focus on jobs as we enter the new year."Clothing， clothing accessories， sporting goods， hobby， book and music sales are leading the charge， according to the NRF. "This will be our big weekend，" Country Junction owner Kelly Gell said from the Southside Mall store. 800 Connecticut Ave， 1st Floor East， Norwalk， CT 06854 USA Her customer base seems to come from within an hours drive of Oneonta， but particularly from the east， west and south. Gell said she sees many of the same faces， including second-home owners from downstate. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT)， visit www.mctinfoservices.com， e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com， or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States， call +1 312-222-4544) Business also is brisk at The Green Toad Bookstore in downtown Oneonta and is picking up at Sportsman Adventures in the Hannaford Plaza on Southside， according to the owners of those stores. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. Find Solutions for Enterprises， SMBs & Service Providers at the ITEXPO East， February 2-4， 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center， FL. (Daily Star， The (Oneonta， NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 18--Cash registers are ringing as the holiday shopping season peaks. (Editor：admin) |