Day after Christmas shopping returns in Tulsa

Shoppers headed back to area stores Monday, some hunting for post-holiday sales, others bringing back those gifts that just weren't quite right. Some call it the 'big bring back', with the

Monday, December 26th 2005, 5:18 pm

By: News On 6

Shoppers headed back to area stores Monday, some hunting for post-holiday sales, others bringing back those gifts that just weren't quite right. Some call it the 'big bring back', with the day after Christmas crowds often just as bad as last minute shoppers in the days before.

Customer: "we're here to return a Christmas gift that we bought for our son because it wasn't what he wanted."

Customer: "Well I returned a present that I bought, that my son had already bought and given to our grandson."

The dreaded day after. While standing in line is rarely a good time, for some south Tulsa Target shoppers, things were going smoothly.

Target representative: "really the returns have not been as large as we'd expected so, I think everybody made some great choices on their gifts."

But if you're among those that didn't, while some exchanges are possible, it's really best to bring a receipt.

Customer: "She needs pots and pans for an apartment and I can't get pots and pans because I don't have a receipt. They're cooperative, it's just their policy, makes it difficult, but I understand."

It's a good idea to be aware of the store policy before you return or try to exchange items anywhere.

For instance, Target's posted policy is if you bring something back that's currently on clearance, that's the return price you'll get.

Nationwide, experts say consumers waited even longer than last year to do their holiday shopping, making this week even more important.

Some retailers did experience a bit of a slump this year and one thing expected to improve overall holiday sales is the growing popularity of gift cards, which don't actually count as sales until the recipient comes in and spends them.

When all is said and done, industry experts anticipate $18.5-billion in gift card sales for the holiday season.

Target representative: "A lot of our guests are gonna be shopping with gift cards and that's something we look foward to."

The week after Christmas accounted for 10 percent of holiday sales last year. This year, because of gift cards, that figure is expected to reach 14 percent.