Shoppers hit stores in search of post-Christmas deals

By Gregan Wingert

Monday, Dec. 26, 2011 | 4:14 p.m.

It was the day after Christmas, and Kimberly Carrabotta could be found delicately arranging a display of markdown earrings as she chatted with customers looking for deals on what retailers have dubbed Mega Monday.

Shoppers are hitting stores to make returns, exchange unwanted gifts and catch final holiday sales.

“I do expect a lot to be bought,” said Carrabotta, who works at Francesca’s Collections at the District at Green Valley Ranch.

Carrabotta is not the only one anticipating big sales.

Mega Monday will account for a good portion of the $469.1 billion that will be spent during the two-month holiday spending season, according to the National Retail Federation. Sales are expected to be nearly 4 percent higher than last year.

Today is predicted to be among the top three biggest shopping days of the year, after Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving — and Dec. 23, according to Shoppertrak, a company that tracks retail trends.

“We just went and bought gifts we didn’t get,” said Melanie Sands, who picked up some movies on Blu-ray from the Best Buy at 611 Marks St. in Henderson.

Vickie Tarantino, meanwhile, spent her morning shopping at the District and taking advantage of the post-Christmas discounts.

“I think it’s pretty much more holiday sales, but it’s way more discounted than previous years,” Tarantino said.

Carrabotta said customers will see special markdowns for today only and that the return period at Francesca’s will be extended to two weeks.

“I’ve already done one return today and it was from Pennsylvania,” Carrabotta said shortly after the store opened.

“Good traffic flow; nothing too hectic” like Black Friday, Carrabotta said. “For all of us here, [Black Friday] was a blur. There was so many people.”

Carrabotta said a lot of people have today off because Christmas was on a Sunday, so to get them into the store, items have been marked down as much as 50 to 75 percent.