by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 17/97) - With only a handful of Christmas-shopping days left, Yellowknifers appear to be buying at least a similar pace to last year's, some retailers said.

Canadian Tire general manager Jan Lavertu said the store is having its best Christmas season since it opened here five years ago.

"This year, breadmakers are big," he said.

Mark's Work Warehouse manager Heather LeBreton said Christmas shoppers are spending as much at the Old Airport Road store this year compared to last.

"Cold weather gear, like Sorels and parkas haven't been selling as much as last year because it hasn't been as cold," she said.

Some customers have yet to get into the Christmas mood and when they do buy they are not buying as many extra items, LeBreton said.

Wolverine Sports Shop owner Dale Johnston said this year he brought in a hired gun.

Marketing consultant Terry Sampley, with Denver-based G.A. Wright, has been in Yellowknife since mid-November.

Johnston said the move paid off.

"This is the first time I've done this," he said.

Johnston said he has done about 35 per cent more Christmas season business than last year -- after marketing costs.

"We wanted to generate sales earlier and we wanted to generate interest in off-season products," Johnston said.

"With any type of retail store you want to create traffic," Sampley, whose last consulting assignment was for a medical supply store in Texas, said.

Chamber of Commerce executive director Cheryl Best said the new game, Yellowknife-opoly, has been a hot seller.

"I'm getting phone calls at home on the weekend from people looking for Yellowknife-opoly," she said.

Best also said the Christmas tree business is "booming."

Best and her husband John have sold Christmas trees for the last nine years.

As of Monday morning, they had sold about 500 trees for between $35 and $150 each. They ordered 580.

Eldonn Jewellery owner and Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce board member Gordon Humphreys described Christmas sales as good. He also said business is at the same pace as last year.

"People are buying and sending merchandise south," Arctic Winter Games store manager Irena Ugrina-Trivic said.

There is an exotic flair to it, Ugrina-Trivic she said.

The latest big seller is warmup suits.

"The warmup suits just came in this morning and I've had ten people put money down to hold them."