Local centers pleased with Black Friday turnout
Traffic and sales during the Black Friday weekend were up from last year at some Grand Strand stores and shopping centers, spurred by deep discounts and low gas prices, shopping center officials said.
"It was a good weekend all the way around,'' said Coastal Grand mall marketing director Deb Bramlett. "Gas is cheap, and I think that is helping. ...It's putting more money into everyone's pockets so there's more money for other things.''
At Myrtle Beach Mall, overall sales likely grew about 2 to 2.5 percent over last year, said marketing director Matt Morris, on par with the National Retail Federation's projection of a 2.2 percent sales increase for holiday shopping this year.
Discounts brought in shoppers, but also meant that retailers had to sell more if they wanted to break even with last year, he said.
The Market Common housing and retail hub saw a "stellar'' Black Friday, its first one since opening in April, said general manager Sue Bonin.
Rainy weather Saturday and Sunday meant slower traffic for the open air shopping center, but some indoor malls saw a big uptick on those days.
Myrtle Beach Mall was even more crowded on Saturday than on Black Friday, Morris said.
The activity during the weekend bodes well for the rest of the holiday shopping season, mall officials said.
"I think you're going to continue to see really really good and aggressive offers for customers and consumers, and that's going to drive our overall sales volume,'' Morris said.
ok..., I'm a local, but where is Myrtle Beach Mall??? Myrtle Square no longer exists, Briarcliff Mall is now known as Colonial Mall (or has it changed again? - but will always be known as Briarcliff by the locals...), Coastal Grande is new (relatively), Inlet Square is in Murrells Inlet/Garden City and the Tanger Outlets are in N. Myrtle & on 501. So where is Myrtle Beach Mall?
Posted by: Connie | December 01, 2008 at 09:51 PM
It's Colonial Mall. I know, it took them forever to get a new sign. And the crack up is that it's not even in Myrtle Beach.
Posted by: Nick | December 01, 2008 at 11:08 PM
Nick, Myrtle Beach Mall is in Myrtle Beach.. North Myrtle Beach does not start until you get to the North end (Alligator Adventure) of Barefoot Landing. Briarcliffe is a community within Myrtle Beach. Much like Cherry Grove is within North Myrtle.
Posted by: Just_Me | December 03, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Well then, for that matter, it's not in Myrtle Beach either, since Myrtle Beach doesn't start until after Restaurant Row (I'm going with the "city limits" sign posted on 17).
Posted by: Nick | December 05, 2008 at 09:49 AM
http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/PDF%20Forms/City%20Limits%20Map.pdf
From this site
http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/faq.html
It's a PDF that shows the city limits.
Posted by: Nick | December 05, 2008 at 09:58 AM