Shoppers return to Tampa Bay stores for holidays

Tampa Bay’s malls are almost looking normal again this holiday season.

People are lining up for photos with Santa Claus. Wreaths and ornaments hang from the ceilings. Stores are stocking up to make sure shelves aren’t empty when shoppers arrive.

But features of the pandemic remain in place as a reminder of the past many months, from curbside parking spots to masked employees and hand sanitizer stations, all meant to make customers feel comfortable returning to stores.

Shoppers are returning this holiday season — and retail experts said they’re back in bigger numbers than before the pandemic, and earlier too.

It’s all setting up for a distinct challenge for retailers this year: They’ve geared up for what they hope will be another online holiday spree and newly pent-up demand for in-store shopping while trying to make sure they have enough on hand to meet the expected surge of people during continued supply-chain challenges.

An earlier start and less stress on Black Friday

The traditional holiday shopping season is defined by the National Retail Federation as November and December. But this year, shoppers have been out weeks in advance.

Westfield Brandon began seeing people walk out with bags of holiday gifts during the first week of October, said the mall’s marketing director, Dawn Arvidson.

Businesses started advertising holiday specials around the same time, encouraging shoppers to avoid missing out on must-have gifts before they disappear from shelves. Visits to Westfield Brandon were up by more than 60,000 in October from 2019, based on cell phone data from Placer.ai. International Plaza had more than 700,000 visits last month.

Supply-chain issues are a real concern, said Justin Greider, head of Florida retail for JLL. The commercial real estate firm surveys consumer habits before each holiday season. But the retail industry has been pushing to start the holiday shopping season sooner for years.

“Retailers discovered several years ago that Black Friday was not working as well for them. It was creating a lot of headaches and compressing profit margins instead of driving a lot more traffic and sales,” Greider said.

Businesses are more prepared to start the hiring process earlier for the holiday season and stock up more than they would before, Greider said.

This year, Black Friday is expected to bring more than a hundred million shoppers to stores, according to the National Retail Federation. But it’s no longer a one-day event, Matthew Shay, president of the organization, said in a statement — it’s a whole weekend continuing on shopping trends that started in October with rising numbers of sales.

Historically, Fit2Run saw holiday shopping pick up after Black Friday but planned for it to begin earlier this year and boosted its inventory starting in September, said Ruthie Sterrett, the Florida-based running apparel store’s marketing director.

During the pandemic, Sterrett said more people began running as a hobby and focusing on their health. So the company doubled up on many products not only to meet demand and have enough for the holidays, but to make sure there’s enough stock into January for people making New Year’s resolutions.

“Our stores have been busier year over year — and even busier than 2019,” Sterrett said.

Creating an experience pays off

The Florida Retail Association, the statewide trade group, is expecting a record year for holiday sales.

While in-person shopping is seeing a return from pandemic lows, online shopping is still expected to be a major player in filling holiday stockings and to continue growing in popularity. About 60 percent of consumers will shop online through an e-retailer like Amazon, according JLL’s holiday survey.

Online shopping may be a big part of Fit2Run’s sales, Sterrett said, but there are more limits to it this year.

Carriers like FedEx pushed up the cutoff for sending out packages earlier this year to handle high shipping demands, Sterrett said. If people shop last-minute for gifts, in-person might be the only option in the 10 days leading up to Christmas.

Westfield Brandon is also seeing more people who miss the shopping experience and want to feel products before buying them, Arvidson said.

More than 58 percent of Americans will shop in-store, up about 6 percent from 2019, JLL found. In addition, customers who shop in-person tend to spend more than the average person during the holidays.

“Holiday shopping and buying gifts for other people is an experience,” Greider said. “For a lot of people, it’s also a social experience and something they do with friends and family.”

There are still many people concerned about the coronavirus, especially as health experts warn another winter surge in Florida is possible.

Malls and businesses are trying to meet people where they are. Westfield Brandon spaced out holiday exhibits, expanded curbside pickup to include dining and launched a texting service called “Ask an elf,” where shoppers can text questions about what’s in store or the hours Santa will be at the mall.

About 28 percent more people are willing to dine at a restaurant this holiday season than last year nationwide, according to the JLL survey. About as many people say they are now willing to visit indoor malls and outdoor shopping centers.

Though Florida may not see as much pent-up demand, since the state had fewer long-lasting COVID-19 restrictions than other states, Greider said out-of-state travelers are likely to spend more when visiting.

There was uncertainty over how much the pandemic would hurt retailers back in 2020.

Malls and shopping centers were once places to get items that fulfill almost any need a person may have, Greider said, but fewer people are going to traditional malls for that purpose now. In the past decade, online shopping has been able do the same and more conveniently.

Local developments like Midtown Tampa and Water Street Tampa are an example of the growing shift away from malls, Greider said, and toward more dynamic destinations for shopping, eating and hanging out.

The shopping centers more likely to succeed during holiday seasons are the ones focused on the experience — the ones with unique stores beyond the standard Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Malls like International Plaza, Greider said.

“What’s going to make this a big year is the social element that’s come back with a vengeance,” International Plaza general manager Gary Malfroid said.

International Plaza saw sales grow in the double digits compared to 2019, Malfroid said. The malls began seeing people return in March when vaccines became widely available statewide, and they’re expecting that to continue into the holidays.

International Plaza added several new high-end stores this year such as the French fashion line Saint Laurent, Swiss chocolatier Laderach and luxury footwear designer Golden Goose. Lululemon and Gucci also are expanding their footprint in the Tampa mall.

“The crowds are here. It’s been packed every weekend,” Malfroid said. “It’s almost like we’re back in 2019 and the pandemic didn’t happen.”

Almost.