retail report
Story and Photos By Jodi Hutchison

Holiday shopping is in high gear at Jonesboro’s Mall at Turtle Creek on the corner of Stadium Boulevard and Highland Drive.

“Last year we had nearly 2 million shoppers during the holidays, and we are anticipating even more this year,” said Jason Whitley, manager of The Mall at Turtle Creek. “We have had a lot of growth this year, and we are especially excited about the new toy store, Toy Castle.”

There is lots going on at the mall during December, and Santa is waiting to hear Christmas wish lists and take pictures through Dec. 24. In addition, kids of all ages will love watching it snow over Santa’s village from 1 p.m.-1:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. and 3 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on Sundays. And, mark your calendars for “Cookies with Santa” on Saturday, Dec. 15, from 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.

Choirs from churches and schools will enhance the spirit of the season with live music performed at various times through Christmas. Gift wrapping is available for less than $10 per item (mall merchant receipts are required for this service).

SHOPPING
The mall’s wide range of gift items includes gift certificates from the food court, live bamboo plants from Earthbound Trading, a pair of Christmas morning pajamas from The Children’s Place and so much more. In addition, the mall’s anchor stores are pulling out all the stops when it comes to sales and special hours this year.

Target will be open 8 a.m.-11 p.m. through Dec. 23 offering popular gifts like the new Blu-ray players, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, music, movies and good buys on the season’s most popular toys.

“The way we prepare Target for the holidays is by preparing for our guests. We want to help them find exactly what they are looking for and make their time in Target festive andpositive. For us, it’s about taking care of our guests as they are getting ready for this busy season,” said William Hawkins, Target store team leader.

J. C. Penney is planning sale after sale through Christmas and shoppers will be excited to know that now the store carries the popular Webkinz stuffed animals. In addition, a huge inventory of housewares and special holiday dinnerware will be on sale. Unbelievable extended store hours begin Dec. 1 for the store’s Huge Sale from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. with similar hours of operation throughout the month. Be sure to watch for sale announcements because the sales get better and the hours get longer as Christmas approaches — and don’t forget to check back for the store’s spectacular after-Christmas blowout!

Dillards is celebrating the season with a selection of very special gift items that are only available during the holidays. Extended shopping hours Dec. 1-16 are 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and extending to 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Dec. 17-24.

SPECIAL EVENTS
Barnes & Noble will have Story time with Mrs. Claus every Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Bradley West, a country music artist who was with The Nashville Star band, will give an acoustic concert Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. Hours are Monday though Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. -9 p.m.

GIFT WRAPPING
Wrap-It-Up is a great new independent gift-wrapping service that will pick up your packages, wrap them and return them to you. Turn around time is usually 24 hours and papers and trims are selected to complement both the gift and the recipient. Call Johnna Dobbs at 933-8010 ext. 223.