Main Street sales good
Manville shop owners say
By:Sally Goldenberg
Despite a national low in holiday shopping this year, Manville’s small businesses reported a boost in sales for December.
"I actually did very well. I sold a lot of leather coats and gloves and I sold a lot of Minnetonka moccasins this year. Nobody has them around here so I’m really doing good with them," said Kathy Brazinski, owner of Kathy’s Leather Goods on South Main Street.
Though she does not have her revenue figures for the month, she said, she made more sales than she did last year.
"What happens with our small stores, when everybody’s ‘malled out,’ they come to us and they find exactly what they want in the small stores."
Apparently the successful sales trend in Manville extended to bedroom furniture as well.
Oscar Gonzalez, co-owner of Discount Mattress and Furniture Co. on South Main Street, said his store had a profitable holiday season this year.
Though he too did not have figures for December’s sales available, Mr. Gonzalez estimated a 6 percent hike from last December’s figures.
"The season was pretty good. We’re here 21 years, so we have a good following," Mr. Gonzalez said.
"This year recliners were very big," he said. Recliners and gliders seemed to be the hot items, he added, referring to gliding chairs that are popular among pregnant women.
Manville store owners’ positive reports seem to defy a much gloomier national trend. According to a Reuters story published in The Star-Ledger on Dec. 31, nearly all major retailers reported low sales this season. The story emphasized that Wal-Mart Stores Inc., with a location in Manville on North Main Street, slumped in sales this holiday season.
The article states: "From discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to upscale retailer Federated Department Stores Inc., top chain stores gave a gloomy view of post-Christmas sales."
According to the story, Wal-Mart expects a 2 to 3 percent growth in sales by Jan. 3, a decline in its earlier growth forecast of 3 to 5 percent.
"’We believe most broadline retailers missed their Christmas sales plans, and we expect sales and profit warnings over the coming weeks,’" said Merrill Lynch retail analyst Dan Barry in the article.
"We’re not as greatly affected by the ups and downs as the big guys, luckily," Mr. Gonzalez said.
Speculating on the difference in sales reports, he recalled something a customer recently told him: "She said, ‘You know, I’ve been to all the big shopping centers. They’re all the same. They’re all interchangeable. I came in here and I found things I haven’t found anyplace else.’"

