Despite Development, Registers Ring at San Antonio this Holiday

Along with the big box retailers like , and , and despite construction at San Antonio Shopping Center, the cash registers at the small businesses in the outdoor mall also brought in some profits.

The small businesses–including Big Frog, Daiso, Nails For You and Focus Optical–saw fairly good foot traffic in the period leading to Christmas. 

In particular, Big Frog, which produces customized t-shirts and other products, had an increase of about 45 percent of its customer base, according to the owner, Randi Samuels. 

"Most customers were new customers attracted to the idea of creating personalized gifts for the holidays," Samuels said.  

Compared to last year, nationwide this year the retail industry saw a boost in holiday sales that exceeded analysts' expectations. From the beginning of December to the day before Christmas, retail sales increased 4.7 percent over the same period in December 2010, according to research firm ShopperTrak. 

The National Retail Federation had expected that holiday sales would only increase 3.8 percent this year to a record of $469.1 billion. 

In addition, shoppers still made those cash registers ring the day after Christmas. Shoppers spent $7.1 billion on Dec. 26, a surge of 25.5 percent over the same day last year, according to ShopperTrak.

"Holiday shopping reached a climax last week," said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin in a statement. "Procrastinators and bargain hunters hit the stores and gave retailers the sales lift they needed to outpace last year."

Samuels said the few days before Christmas were busy for her with many Big Frog customers coming in to make last-minute gifts, such as customized pictures of their children or newborns to print on t-shirts, puzzles and tote bags. Most of the customers, she added, wanted a quick turnaround for either that day or the next day.

Even though the days before Christmas and the day after gave a much needed boost to retailers, Big Frog still had concerns over the . Samuels said many people had difficulty finding her shop and hoped that the or the could, in some way, ease the burden of the construction.

"It would be great to have some kind of promotion," Samuels said, adding that it wouldn’t be an advertisement per se, but rather an acknowledgement that the stores are there to make contributions to the community.

Construction for the redevelopment of the San Antonio Center began Nov. 1 and is expected to be finished in 2013 with more retailers, restaurants and residential units.

Oscar Garcia, President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in Mountain, acknowledged that although they’ll be more changes in the development at San Antonio, it causes some disruptions. However, the Chamber of Commerce is always there, he said, to support local businesses and the local community.

"The San Antonio Shopping Center is and has been for many years a cornerstone in Mountain View for businesses and retailers," Garcia said. "We’re open to talking to Chamber members as well as other businesses in the San Antonio Center to see what we can do to bring exposure."