Holiday sales

The parking lots were full Saturday at the large retail stores along 42nd Street as shoppers checked off their Christmas wish lists, but there are plenty of shoppers for the smaller, locally owned stores.

They certainly weren’t neglected in the holiday rush. They may not offer toys in aisle four, guns in aisle 22 and tires in the back automotive section, but they still haul in the business come Christmas.

Just ask Jeff Bussell at Brush Mountain Outfitters on Grandview Avenue.

The gun, ammunition, camp­ing and tackle store fights with bigger and more advertised sporting goods stores for customers. It was the second-to-last Saturday before Christmas and past the hunting store’s 4 p.m. closing time but seven customers were in the store.

It was the busiest Saturday of the year, Bussell said. He expects Monday — the last day specially ordered firearms’ delivery can be assured for Christmas — to be as busy.

The store offers knowledge that customers can’t get at other bigger retail outlets, he said. With the knowledge come loyal customers — any time of the year.

“We have a good core base,” Bussell said who helps his father, Chester, with the store that opened five years ago.

Beads & More storeowner Terri Bader’s clientele leans more toward the Christmas sweater than camouflage, but her bead and jewelry-making store on 8th Street also had customers slip into the shop after closing time.

She’s been open 11 years, offering beaded jewelry and jewelry making equipment. Like Brush Mountain, Bader, too, attracts a core customer base through expansive selection and knowledge.

Unlike next year, there is nearly an extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2007. But last minute shopping seems to always be the annual procedure, Bader said.

“I don’t think people got in a hurry until today,” she said. “Everybody’s been kind of panicked today.”