Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 19/01) - Despite this year's sleepy economy, Yellowknife's downtown merchants are wide awake during the last Christmas shopping week.

For Women Only's Vicki Tompkins said Yellowknifers will find unique gifts in the downtown store. Free gift wrapping is part of the store's customer service. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

"We are holding our own," said Yellowknife Hardware's Home Hardware co-owner Pat Winter. "This Christmas, Saturdays have been just as busy. We try hard to offer customer service."

The family-run business has been trading in Yellowknife since it opened in its original Old Town location in 1945. Now located in the city's core, the store has a seasonal reputation of a brightly lit front window decoration.

"We do try to make it festive. We try to do a different theme every year. It's cold and dark out now, the best time for Christmas to be," said Winter.

For the wonderful "general store," packed from floor to ceiling with everything from giftware to snow shovels, the Christmas shopper's season is just the icing on the cake.

"We are busy all year round. We don't just rely on Christmas sales."

Big-box style stores closer to the Yellowknife suburbs and Canadian Tire's move away from the city centre initially worried Winter but she hasn't seen the decrease in sales that she had feared. The downturn in this year's economy hasn't been a factor either.

Less than one in five Canadians expect the current economic climate to impact their holiday gift-giving activity this year, stated a survey released by Visa Canada. Only 17 per cent of Canadians expect world events and the sluggish economy to slow them down.

"Sept. 11 is a definite impact on everything," said For Women Only's Vicki Tompkins, who is experiencing the first Christmas season for the still-new store. "I'm not going to retire in January but it hasn't been a bad year."

During the first part of the shopping season the ladies' clothing and gift store had mostly women looking for the perfect party dress, "But now it's mostly men."

And what's the most popular gift this year? "A lot of sleepwear," said Tompkins as she pointed out cosy housecoats and nighties.

The men who drop into the women's store sometimes have that deer caught in the headlights look, but Tompkins said many are familiar with colours and sizes.

The Visa survey noted that the quality of in-store promotions and discounts, in-store selection, and convenience or proximity of the retail outlet were key factors driving consumers to shop at one retail outlet over another.

The free parking doesn't hurt either.

"It's a nice feature the city does," said Tompkins.

The city's seasonal policy started last year when the chamber of commerce approached council to give shoppers a break.

"Things are going fine. We haven't done a comparison to last year but it seems about the same," said Overlander Sports' co-owner Sandra Stirling. "Christmas sales are important but we don't live and die by them."

The diamond mining activity based in Yellowknife has provided for lots of employment for Yellowknifers and the store's seasonal success also stems from an annual promotion called the 12 days of Christmas.

Like most downtown retailers, Overlander is offering shoppers extended hours. The store is open weekdays until 8 p.m. and weekends until 6 p.m.

And like most downtown retailers, it boasts a unique inventory, providing that extra-special choice of gifts.

"There are no other stores like us in town," said Stirling, who described the store as cutting edge.

"We don't want people to be able to not find something here that they could find down south," she said.