The registers ring a sale every few moments, and customers exchange polite pardons as they move past each other in stores this week.

Tuesday, December 14, 1999

The registers ring a sale every few moments, and customers exchange polite pardons as they move past each other in stores this week. Some may be planning to miss the joy of parking a mile from the stores to shop online instead.

At Bonnie’s Hallmark on Main Street, sales are exceptionally brisk, and owner Bonnie Mogen couldn’t be happier about it.

"The curtain went up on Nov. 1," Mogen said of the Christmas shopping season, "and it hasn’t slowed down yet."

She also noted the warm weather allows many of Austin’s older folks – who make up a large portion of her customers – to stay out and active much longer.

Mogen said the season of shopping has been hopping for her store, so much so she hasn’t noticed any business departing her store to shop the ‘Net instead.

"To be honest, the only place I really hear about Internet shopping is on TV," Mogen said. "Except for one person – she came in looking for an ornament that was sold out. We couldn’t help her, but she found it on the Internet."

Mogen said one reason she expects her store not to suffer any losses to the Internet is they way people treat shopping there as a special outing.

"It’s like a destination, I think, this store," Mogen said. "It’s not like a mall where people wander through one store after another. This is a specific stop."

At Target, the tills also are jumping. With hours extended until 11 p.m. through the holidays, store Team Leader Michelle Van Slooten expects her store to be able to meet most holiday needs.

"On the weekends here, we’re really popping," Van Slooten said. "We’re doing the best we can to keep up with demand."