| Fashion News Indiana |
Monday, December 24, 2007 12:00 PM IST (06:30 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Arts & culture, Consumer interest, Fashion, Lifestyle; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Clothing & accessories, Textiles
Satya Paul Presents the ‘Pop Art’ Collection
Fashion Inspired by Contemporary Art – for Inspirational Series III
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Monday, December 24, 2007 -- (Business Wire India)
In its third collection as a part of the inspirational series, Satya Paul in association with Chateau Indage will uncork the Pop Art collection at the
ITC Grand Central.
Starting in the 50's, Pop art is a reflection of popular culture in art. It is neither praise nor condemnation but explores the everyday imagery that is
so much a part of contemporary consumer culture. This art form has used media, advertising, packaging, celebrities and comic book art styles as
various sources of imagery. Some leading artists of the style include Richard Hamilton, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Andy
Warhol is famous as ‘Pope of Pop’ and has painted the things he loved the most, such as Dollar Bills, Campbell Soup Cans, Marilyn Monroe,
brand names and even celebrities as a token of his love for them. Roy Lichtenstein had said, “Pop Art is industrial painting.” He believed that the
entire world would soon become industrial. Robert Indiana related pop with love “Pop is love, for it accepts everything. Pop is dropping the
bomb”.
For Puneet Nanda at Satya Paul, it is a significant one of many steps, to bring art closer to real life. This collection is an explosion of all rules
associated with saris – it reduces the age of a sari by a whole generation. He has expressed the various moods and images of everyday life in the
form of contemporary fashion. For example, love is the message, expressed in playful hearts carefully hand painted in a multitude of colors; or
simply the word ‘love’ in iconic 60’s stencil typographic style in full color or crisp black n white. There are classic Warhol style iconic prints of
bollywood greats, and in keeping with the branding sensibility, depicting his illustrious father and creator of the brand Satya Paul. In the
Lichtenstein inspired creations, brightly colored pop graphics and brush strokes. To deliver the full burst of newness into the age-old drape, prints
with barcodes, money, lips, Bollywood icons, and even Google have been given a place in fashion history by way of these prints. He says “It is
the Satya Paul style expressed in the bold iconic pop style through an interplay of colors, balanced by embroideries and materials.”
The collection comprises of beautiful saris, salwar-kameez sets and dresses, and is available at select Satya Paul boutiques across the country.
About Satya Paul:
Established in 1985, Satya Paul is now known globally for its excellence in design. The look is a strong interplay of patterns and color that the New
York Times has hailed as works of Kinetic Art. The label has achieved what is possibly the highest accomplishment that the style is identifiable on
the street. Having re-invented the traditional sari as a modern classic, the Satya Paul product line also comprises of fusion and western clothing
including scarves, bags, men’s accessories and fabrics and an entire range of classic bridal wear. Satya Paul is available through over 25 exclusive
Satya Paul boutiques, and at fine stores internationally or can be ordered online from www.satyapaul.com.
Looking Back: 1957: Christmas ‘toys as low as half price’ at Moon Auction House in Seelyville
By Dorothy Jerse
Special to the Tribune-Star
1997
• Demolition of the old Vigo County Home on Maple Avenue was under way. The home had been sold in 1992 to Nationwide Management Inc.
with plans for the construction of a new facility.
• General manager Duane Lammers announced WTWO-TV planned to add a 5 p.m. newscast in March. The Nexstar Broadcasting Group had
bought the station the previous spring.
• Chancellor/vice president Sam Borden said the Ivy Tech campus at Terre Haute ranked 13th out of the 13 regions in support per full-time
equivalent student and the gap seemed to be widening.
• A Democrat caucus chose Mark Blade, Vigo County Council president and Indiana State University trustee, to fill the District 38 State Senate
seat vacated by the resignation of Robert F. Hellmann.
• John Royse retired as chairman and CEO of Old National Bancorp. James A. Risinger was named to succeed him.
n In celebration of 20 years of service to the Terre Haute area, Laughner's Cafeteria, U.S. 41 and Davis Avenue, introduced the “Arnie Plate” for
$4.95 in honor of manager Arnie Karagis.
1982
• Donald G. Smith of Rosedale, a Democratic presidential hopeful, launched his campaign for president of the United States. He said, “I don’t have
a dime for campaign expenses. You could say my campaign will be a grassroots one.”
• The number of local gas shut-offs had increased. About 1,472 customers had service terminated in 1982 because of the lack of payment compared
with 919 in 1981, according to Donald Wedel, Terre Haute Gas Corp. office manager. Gordon Ayer, Public Service Indiana spokesman, reported
his utility’s shut-offs had increased 4 percent during the past year.
• A new Wabash Valley chapter of the American Red Cross opened its office at 700 S. Third St. with Bryan Seward and Robert Hellmann as
president and vice president of the new board. The former chapter had been disbanded April 30 because of lack of funding.
• The Terre Haute Area Chamber of Commerce elected R.W. “Bill” James, William F. Jukes, Oren Testa, David Bailey, John Schweitzer and Eric
Meister to its board of directors.
1957
• Last-minute Christmas shoppers could find bargains at Morris Pawn Shop, Third Street and Wabash Avenue, and at the Moon Auction House in
Seelyville advertising “toys as low as half price.”
• William F. Bindley, chairman of the industrial committee of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, announced the establishment of a
manufacturing plant in Terre Haute by Modern Album Co. Inc. of Indiana.
• Ray Compton, owner of Fashion Cleaners, bought the Adelman-McGraw Cleaners, 2750 Wabash Ave.
• Regional adviser Jack King announced that the Hoosier Toppers Custom & Rod Club had applied for a charter under the National Hot Rod
Association.
• A U.S. mail collection box, stolen from the corner of Jefferson and Voorhees streets, was recovered from Otter Creek, north of Terre Haute.
• Hoke’s D-X Service Center open house in North Terre Haute featured a gift with each 10-gallon gas purchase.
• New officers of the Golden Age Club meeting at the YWCA, 121 N. Seventh St., were Mrs. Helen Cooksey, Ernest Boles, Mary Heidenger and
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Campbell.
Retail entrepreneurs open doors in time to capture holiday spending
By DREW ANDERSEN Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO -- The holiday season is celebrated by retailers as the time of year when they go "into the black" and start turning a profit for the
year. But the window from mid-November until just after Christmas is also a prime time for startup retailers to set up shop.
After working for thirteen years at the Cedar Bend Humane Society, Carrie Ragsdale wanted a change of pace, so she decided to start a company in
Waterloo. Each year she traveled through Indiana near the holiday season and picked up hundreds of dollars worth of hand-dipped candles to give
out as presents. Her original business idea was to market those candles in the Cedar Valley.
So Ragsdale decided to open a retail store and finally settled on a storefront on East 4th street in Waterloo. But she had to scramble to get her new
business up and running in time to catch the holiday crowd.
Although she had virtually no experience running a business, Ragsdale hit the ground running, and the focus of her new business, Home Comforts,
branched out from candles to a variety of products.
"I was surprised by how much attention our children's toys have received," said Ragsdale. Home Comforts carries a line of toys by the Melissa &
Doug company.
Ragsdale officially opened for business three weeks ago, just a few weeks later than she had hoped. But her large inventory of holiday-related gifts
has already struck a chord with customers.
"This time of year, sales are really important for businesses that have a large percentage of their inventory in Christmas merchandise," said James
Hoelscher, program manager of entrepreneur development for the University of Northern Iowa Small Business Development Center. "If sales are
not good, they are going to have a large number of items leftover."
Hoelscher works almost exclusively with startup companies in the area, and he advises businesses to open at a time when sales will be at their
peak. This helps small businesses to quickly establish their most important lifeline -- cash flow.
"You don't want to open an ice cream stand in the winter," joked Hoelscher. "You have to ask, 'When will my customers be most apt to buy?' And
Christmas is a ripe time for retailers."
Of course, it's not good enough to just open the doors, especially for retailers not located in modern shopping hubs, such as shopping centers and
strip malls.
Stephanie Shavers opened a trendy women's fashion store called Shoe Fetish, also in downtown Waterloo, the day after Thanksgiving in an effort
to captuer the holiday shopping crowd. To spread the word about her new business, she hosted a pre-open party event and sent out about 300
invitations to members of the community.
"That proved to be the kind of jump start I really needed," said Shavers.
Hoelscher agreed that marketing was one aspect that startup businesses often overlook. Entrepreneuers can get buried in the details of running day-
to-day operations and forget about promoting their new business. And with all of the advertising during the holiday season, compounded with
limited space due to political ads, marketing is no easy task for new businesses.
"This time of year is like the Super Bowl of retail advertising," said Hoelscher. "It's easy for a business' message to get lost."
The catch-22 is that many small businesses do not have the means to support a huge advertising campaign, so they rely on other forms of
marketing to promote their new business.
"Word-of-mouth has proved to be the best (marketing tool)," said Shavers.
Some of the customers at Home Comforts told Ragsdale they received gifts from her store at company gift exchanges. The recipients were so
impressed with their gifts that they went to Home Comforts to do holiday shopping for people on their lists.
There is also a form of cameradarie marketing between downtown Waterloo businesses. Ragsdale's business cards can be found at nearby coffee
house and restaurant Cottonwood Canyon, and all of the entrepreneurs in the area are quick to refer customers to their fellow downtown
businesses.
"We try to do some cooperative marketing to help entrepreneurs stretch their dollars," said Terry Poe Buschkamp, the executive director of Main
Street Waterloo.
Ragsdale's business might be the best example of cooperative marketing, at least when mixed with supplier relations. Home Comforts carries a vast
array of locally-made products ranging from jewelry to woodwork to paintings by local artist Molly Hartz.
"It gets the eye of a different crowd," Ragsdale said of her store's distinctive selection of locally-crafted goods.
Both Ragsdale and Shavers said the recent onslaught of winter weather may have produced an adverse effect on sales, but both hoped shoppers
would be back in full force this weekend. Shavers is so committed to the success of her store that she is going to leave the doors open when most
other retailers will be huddled by the fire.
"I'm going to be open on Christmas Eve, and I know there aren't many other stores that can make that claim," she said.
Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.
Shoppers deck the malls
Financial expert says retailers are seeing the green
By Bruce C. Smith
bruce.smith@indystar.com
December 22, 2007
Shoppers flooded the streets of Metropolis mall in Plainfield this week, trying to beat the Christmas deadline.
They also showed up to let youngsters take a turn on Santa's knee despite weeks of downbeat economic predictions about holiday spending.
"If you have been reading over the past four months about the surveys of consumer confidence, you'd get the idea that a recession was looming,"
said Michael Hicks, director of Ball State University's Bureau of Business Research.
"But I see other indicators, and I care more about what people actually do in their shopping rather than the surveys and predictions."
Consumer confidence is actually high, and holiday spending will be high, "breathtakingly up," Hicks said. Among the keys, he said, is that post-
Thanksgiving "Black Friday" sales were up 7.2 percent compared with the same day a year ago. "That is surprising, and it is more than just
inflation."
Hicks also pointed to the calendar, which this year gives shoppers almost an extra week in the traditional retail period from Thanksgiving to
Christmas.
Shopping center operators recently reported November sales up 1.2 percent compared with the same month last year.
"So, this looks like it will be a good shopping season, despite the bad weather we had in the Midwest last weekend," Hicks said.
Brittney Way, Plainfield, found a gap in the crowds at Metropolis to get in some gift-buying Wednesday afternoon. As for herself, the Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis student said, "All I really want is gift cards because I can really use them."
Nearby, in the Bath and Body Works, Tricia Aycock, Avon, shopped for some last-minute gifts for teachers and friends. On her own wish list is a
Wii game computer, one of the most popular toys of this gift-giving season.
Jeff Hagler, Coatesville, walked out of Dick's Sporting Goods carrying bags with Christmas presents for his wife and a new Smith & Wesson
sports pistol for himself. His wife is expecting their first baby, who undoubtedly will rewrite their Christmas shopping list next year, he said.
A little farther along the Metropolis mall's main street, Larry McDowell, Avon, had picked up a Christmas package at the Vera Bradley fashions
store containing a backpack for a daughter.
The retired air traffic flight controller and his wife are treating children and grandchildren this Christmas, but they are looking forward to a long
vacation for themselves in a month.
This has been a good Christmas retailing season, maybe the best since the mall opened in October 2005. "But we've had a lot of late shoppers
because of the snowstorm last weekend," said Cheryl Robison, Jamestown, the manager of the Vera Bradley shop.
At times, there's a line of youngsters eager for a turn with Santa, who is waiting to hear their wishes in a giant toy-filled dome in the mall's park.
When he's not in character, he's Charlie Karr, Gosport, who has been rated one of the most popular Santas in this region for many years because of
his style with the kids and real white beard.
Approaching 70, the retired ironworker has played the part for 19 years at malls in Bloomington and Indianapolis and Nordstrom department
store. He started after a son was killed in a traffic accident on Indianapolis' Westside.
Come Christmas Day, his rural Owen County home will be packed with his family of eight children, 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In the Metropolis Santa dome, twins seem to be in fashion this year, he said, counting at least 52 sets who have come to see the Jolly Old Elf.
Tops on the list of most-requested gifts, he said, are Nintendo Wii video game systems. "They seem to be hard to get in the stores. I'll have to put
on a second shift (of elves) to make more," Santa said.
Editors: General: Arts & culture, Consumer interest, Fashion, Lifestyle; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Clothing & accessories, Textiles
Satya Paul Presents the ‘Pop Art’ Collection
Fashion Inspired by Contemporary Art – for Inspirational Series III
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Monday, December 24, 2007 -- (Business Wire India)
In its third collection as a part of the inspirational series, Satya Paul in association with Chateau Indage will uncork the Pop Art collection at the
ITC Grand Central.
Starting in the 50's, Pop art is a reflection of popular culture in art. It is neither praise nor condemnation but explores the everyday imagery that is
so much a part of contemporary consumer culture. This art form has used media, advertising, packaging, celebrities and comic book art styles as
various sources of imagery. Some leading artists of the style include Richard Hamilton, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Andy
Warhol is famous as ‘Pope of Pop’ and has painted the things he loved the most, such as Dollar Bills, Campbell Soup Cans, Marilyn Monroe,
brand names and even celebrities as a token of his love for them. Roy Lichtenstein had said, “Pop Art is industrial painting.” He believed that the
entire world would soon become industrial. Robert Indiana related pop with love “Pop is love, for it accepts everything. Pop is dropping the
bomb”.
For Puneet Nanda at Satya Paul, it is a significant one of many steps, to bring art closer to real life. This collection is an explosion of all rules
associated with saris – it reduces the age of a sari by a whole generation. He has expressed the various moods and images of everyday life in the
form of contemporary fashion. For example, love is the message, expressed in playful hearts carefully hand painted in a multitude of colors; or
simply the word ‘love’ in iconic 60’s stencil typographic style in full color or crisp black n white. There are classic Warhol style iconic prints of
bollywood greats, and in keeping with the branding sensibility, depicting his illustrious father and creator of the brand Satya Paul. In the
Lichtenstein inspired creations, brightly colored pop graphics and brush strokes. To deliver the full burst of newness into the age-old drape, prints
with barcodes, money, lips, Bollywood icons, and even Google have been given a place in fashion history by way of these prints. He says “It is
the Satya Paul style expressed in the bold iconic pop style through an interplay of colors, balanced by embroideries and materials.”
The collection comprises of beautiful saris, salwar-kameez sets and dresses, and is available at select Satya Paul boutiques across the country.
About Satya Paul:
Established in 1985, Satya Paul is now known globally for its excellence in design. The look is a strong interplay of patterns and color that the New
York Times has hailed as works of Kinetic Art. The label has achieved what is possibly the highest accomplishment that the style is identifiable on
the street. Having re-invented the traditional sari as a modern classic, the Satya Paul product line also comprises of fusion and western clothing
including scarves, bags, men’s accessories and fabrics and an entire range of classic bridal wear. Satya Paul is available through over 25 exclusive
Satya Paul boutiques, and at fine stores internationally or can be ordered online from www.satyapaul.com.
Looking Back: 1957: Christmas ‘toys as low as half price’ at Moon Auction House in Seelyville
By Dorothy Jerse
Special to the Tribune-Star
1997
• Demolition of the old Vigo County Home on Maple Avenue was under way. The home had been sold in 1992 to Nationwide Management Inc.
with plans for the construction of a new facility.
• General manager Duane Lammers announced WTWO-TV planned to add a 5 p.m. newscast in March. The Nexstar Broadcasting Group had
bought the station the previous spring.
• Chancellor/vice president Sam Borden said the Ivy Tech campus at Terre Haute ranked 13th out of the 13 regions in support per full-time
equivalent student and the gap seemed to be widening.
• A Democrat caucus chose Mark Blade, Vigo County Council president and Indiana State University trustee, to fill the District 38 State Senate
seat vacated by the resignation of Robert F. Hellmann.
• John Royse retired as chairman and CEO of Old National Bancorp. James A. Risinger was named to succeed him.
n In celebration of 20 years of service to the Terre Haute area, Laughner's Cafeteria, U.S. 41 and Davis Avenue, introduced the “Arnie Plate” for
$4.95 in honor of manager Arnie Karagis.
1982
• Donald G. Smith of Rosedale, a Democratic presidential hopeful, launched his campaign for president of the United States. He said, “I don’t have
a dime for campaign expenses. You could say my campaign will be a grassroots one.”
• The number of local gas shut-offs had increased. About 1,472 customers had service terminated in 1982 because of the lack of payment compared
with 919 in 1981, according to Donald Wedel, Terre Haute Gas Corp. office manager. Gordon Ayer, Public Service Indiana spokesman, reported
his utility’s shut-offs had increased 4 percent during the past year.
• A new Wabash Valley chapter of the American Red Cross opened its office at 700 S. Third St. with Bryan Seward and Robert Hellmann as
president and vice president of the new board. The former chapter had been disbanded April 30 because of lack of funding.
• The Terre Haute Area Chamber of Commerce elected R.W. “Bill” James, William F. Jukes, Oren Testa, David Bailey, John Schweitzer and Eric
Meister to its board of directors.
1957
• Last-minute Christmas shoppers could find bargains at Morris Pawn Shop, Third Street and Wabash Avenue, and at the Moon Auction House in
Seelyville advertising “toys as low as half price.”
• William F. Bindley, chairman of the industrial committee of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, announced the establishment of a
manufacturing plant in Terre Haute by Modern Album Co. Inc. of Indiana.
• Ray Compton, owner of Fashion Cleaners, bought the Adelman-McGraw Cleaners, 2750 Wabash Ave.
• Regional adviser Jack King announced that the Hoosier Toppers Custom & Rod Club had applied for a charter under the National Hot Rod
Association.
• A U.S. mail collection box, stolen from the corner of Jefferson and Voorhees streets, was recovered from Otter Creek, north of Terre Haute.
• Hoke’s D-X Service Center open house in North Terre Haute featured a gift with each 10-gallon gas purchase.
• New officers of the Golden Age Club meeting at the YWCA, 121 N. Seventh St., were Mrs. Helen Cooksey, Ernest Boles, Mary Heidenger and
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Campbell.
Retail entrepreneurs open doors in time to capture holiday spending
By DREW ANDERSEN Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO -- The holiday season is celebrated by retailers as the time of year when they go "into the black" and start turning a profit for the
year. But the window from mid-November until just after Christmas is also a prime time for startup retailers to set up shop.
After working for thirteen years at the Cedar Bend Humane Society, Carrie Ragsdale wanted a change of pace, so she decided to start a company in
Waterloo. Each year she traveled through Indiana near the holiday season and picked up hundreds of dollars worth of hand-dipped candles to give
out as presents. Her original business idea was to market those candles in the Cedar Valley.
So Ragsdale decided to open a retail store and finally settled on a storefront on East 4th street in Waterloo. But she had to scramble to get her new
business up and running in time to catch the holiday crowd.
Although she had virtually no experience running a business, Ragsdale hit the ground running, and the focus of her new business, Home Comforts,
branched out from candles to a variety of products.
"I was surprised by how much attention our children's toys have received," said Ragsdale. Home Comforts carries a line of toys by the Melissa &
Doug company.
Ragsdale officially opened for business three weeks ago, just a few weeks later than she had hoped. But her large inventory of holiday-related gifts
has already struck a chord with customers.
"This time of year, sales are really important for businesses that have a large percentage of their inventory in Christmas merchandise," said James
Hoelscher, program manager of entrepreneur development for the University of Northern Iowa Small Business Development Center. "If sales are
not good, they are going to have a large number of items leftover."
Hoelscher works almost exclusively with startup companies in the area, and he advises businesses to open at a time when sales will be at their
peak. This helps small businesses to quickly establish their most important lifeline -- cash flow.
"You don't want to open an ice cream stand in the winter," joked Hoelscher. "You have to ask, 'When will my customers be most apt to buy?' And
Christmas is a ripe time for retailers."
Of course, it's not good enough to just open the doors, especially for retailers not located in modern shopping hubs, such as shopping centers and
strip malls.
Stephanie Shavers opened a trendy women's fashion store called Shoe Fetish, also in downtown Waterloo, the day after Thanksgiving in an effort
to captuer the holiday shopping crowd. To spread the word about her new business, she hosted a pre-open party event and sent out about 300
invitations to members of the community.
"That proved to be the kind of jump start I really needed," said Shavers.
Hoelscher agreed that marketing was one aspect that startup businesses often overlook. Entrepreneuers can get buried in the details of running day-
to-day operations and forget about promoting their new business. And with all of the advertising during the holiday season, compounded with
limited space due to political ads, marketing is no easy task for new businesses.
"This time of year is like the Super Bowl of retail advertising," said Hoelscher. "It's easy for a business' message to get lost."
The catch-22 is that many small businesses do not have the means to support a huge advertising campaign, so they rely on other forms of
marketing to promote their new business.
"Word-of-mouth has proved to be the best (marketing tool)," said Shavers.
Some of the customers at Home Comforts told Ragsdale they received gifts from her store at company gift exchanges. The recipients were so
impressed with their gifts that they went to Home Comforts to do holiday shopping for people on their lists.
There is also a form of cameradarie marketing between downtown Waterloo businesses. Ragsdale's business cards can be found at nearby coffee
house and restaurant Cottonwood Canyon, and all of the entrepreneurs in the area are quick to refer customers to their fellow downtown
businesses.
"We try to do some cooperative marketing to help entrepreneurs stretch their dollars," said Terry Poe Buschkamp, the executive director of Main
Street Waterloo.
Ragsdale's business might be the best example of cooperative marketing, at least when mixed with supplier relations. Home Comforts carries a vast
array of locally-made products ranging from jewelry to woodwork to paintings by local artist Molly Hartz.
"It gets the eye of a different crowd," Ragsdale said of her store's distinctive selection of locally-crafted goods.
Both Ragsdale and Shavers said the recent onslaught of winter weather may have produced an adverse effect on sales, but both hoped shoppers
would be back in full force this weekend. Shavers is so committed to the success of her store that she is going to leave the doors open when most
other retailers will be huddled by the fire.
"I'm going to be open on Christmas Eve, and I know there aren't many other stores that can make that claim," she said.
Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.
Shoppers deck the malls
Financial expert says retailers are seeing the green
By Bruce C. Smith
bruce.smith@indystar.com
December 22, 2007
Shoppers flooded the streets of Metropolis mall in Plainfield this week, trying to beat the Christmas deadline.
They also showed up to let youngsters take a turn on Santa's knee despite weeks of downbeat economic predictions about holiday spending.
"If you have been reading over the past four months about the surveys of consumer confidence, you'd get the idea that a recession was looming,"
said Michael Hicks, director of Ball State University's Bureau of Business Research.
"But I see other indicators, and I care more about what people actually do in their shopping rather than the surveys and predictions."
Consumer confidence is actually high, and holiday spending will be high, "breathtakingly up," Hicks said. Among the keys, he said, is that post-
Thanksgiving "Black Friday" sales were up 7.2 percent compared with the same day a year ago. "That is surprising, and it is more than just
inflation."
Hicks also pointed to the calendar, which this year gives shoppers almost an extra week in the traditional retail period from Thanksgiving to
Christmas.
Shopping center operators recently reported November sales up 1.2 percent compared with the same month last year.
"So, this looks like it will be a good shopping season, despite the bad weather we had in the Midwest last weekend," Hicks said.
Brittney Way, Plainfield, found a gap in the crowds at Metropolis to get in some gift-buying Wednesday afternoon. As for herself, the Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis student said, "All I really want is gift cards because I can really use them."
Nearby, in the Bath and Body Works, Tricia Aycock, Avon, shopped for some last-minute gifts for teachers and friends. On her own wish list is a
Wii game computer, one of the most popular toys of this gift-giving season.
Jeff Hagler, Coatesville, walked out of Dick's Sporting Goods carrying bags with Christmas presents for his wife and a new Smith & Wesson
sports pistol for himself. His wife is expecting their first baby, who undoubtedly will rewrite their Christmas shopping list next year, he said.
A little farther along the Metropolis mall's main street, Larry McDowell, Avon, had picked up a Christmas package at the Vera Bradley fashions
store containing a backpack for a daughter.
The retired air traffic flight controller and his wife are treating children and grandchildren this Christmas, but they are looking forward to a long
vacation for themselves in a month.
This has been a good Christmas retailing season, maybe the best since the mall opened in October 2005. "But we've had a lot of late shoppers
because of the snowstorm last weekend," said Cheryl Robison, Jamestown, the manager of the Vera Bradley shop.
At times, there's a line of youngsters eager for a turn with Santa, who is waiting to hear their wishes in a giant toy-filled dome in the mall's park.
When he's not in character, he's Charlie Karr, Gosport, who has been rated one of the most popular Santas in this region for many years because of
his style with the kids and real white beard.
Approaching 70, the retired ironworker has played the part for 19 years at malls in Bloomington and Indianapolis and Nordstrom department
store. He started after a son was killed in a traffic accident on Indianapolis' Westside.
Come Christmas Day, his rural Owen County home will be packed with his family of eight children, 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In the Metropolis Santa dome, twins seem to be in fashion this year, he said, counting at least 52 sets who have come to see the Jolly Old Elf.
Tops on the list of most-requested gifts, he said, are Nintendo Wii video game systems. "They seem to be hard to get in the stores. I'll have to put
on a second shift (of elves) to make more," Santa said.
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