Holiday season opens with parade, shopping

Armed with full bellies, credit cards, shoppers hit local stores

By CHRIS VETTER

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Armed with full bellies and credit cards, shoppers hit New Ulm stores Friday, kicking off the Christmas shopping season.

Cars packed the downtown area, as shoppers looked for perfect gifts for friends and family.

In the Christmas Haus, customers milled through the store, then waited patiently in lines as workers scrambled to ring up the purchases.

"It's a very busy day," said Jean Fischer, manager at Christmas Haus. "But we get busy already in October."

Christmas Haus has doubled its staff for the holidays.

"We think about it far ahead," Fischer said. "We have plenty of workers today and for the whole weekend."

Donna Lambrecht, store owner, said that 40-50 percent of Christmas Haus' revenue is generated in the last couple months of the year. Customers love the variety of Christmas items at the store, Lambrecht believes.

"If you want to get in the mood, this is it," she said.

Two blocks south, Sandy Gulden chatted with patrons as she rang up their orders. Gulden owns Sandy's Hallmark, and said her employees had been busy at the registers all morning.

"Shoppers are in for their Snoopy-related merchandise, or their Harry Potter stuff," Gulden said.

Unlike Christmas Haus, Sandy's Hallmark didn't hire seasonal help. However, the store's employees are working longer hours throughout the season, Gulden said.

The beginning of the shopping season is a plus for the Hallmark store.

"I look forward to it," Gulden said. "It's Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries every day."

In Marktplatz Mall, children arrived early to meet Santa Claus and eat a morning meal.

"Crowds have been real good," said Lori Zehm, office manager at Marktplatz. "Breakfast with Santa was a success. We had every table full."

For Zehm, the best part of the day is when the Jolly Red One arrives.

"When Santa walks in the door, it's magic," she said. "The little kids' faces are so excited."

Santa Claus was all smiles, as he passed out lollipops and greeted children.

"It's the first official day Santa is in town," said Joe Maidl, who has donned the red jacket and white beard for the past 20 years. Greeting each child with a hearty laugh, Maidl makes an impressive Santa. He says he loves the role.

"I suppose it's the feeling and emotions, to make people happy," Maidl said. "It's the smiles on the kids' faces."

At Target, about 150 shoppers were outside the door at 7 a.m. for the store opening, said Sue Pfeffer, store team leader.

"They're out in full force," Pfeffer said.

Good weather contributed to the large crowd, she said.

"We get a lot of guests from the west," Pfeffer said. She admits she was concerned that crowds might have been small because of the Sleepy Eye football game at the Metrodome pulling potential shoppers to the Twin Cities.

The store hired about 30-40 seasonal workers. By Friday morning, everyone was ready, Pfeffer said.

"It's very exciting," she said. "You prep and get ready for this day, and this is just the beginning. This is it."

Across town, Kmart also was reporting large crowds.

"We had all the checkout lanes open and we're looking for a real robust day in sales," said Tom Paluch, Kmart hardlines manager.

Paluch agreed that good weather helped bring rural residents to town. He said he is energized by the number of shoppers.

"It's a good day all around," he said.