Yes, there is shopping in Fayetteville
Not long ago, I placed a call to an office in Maryland where the receptionist recognized the "910" area code.
"What part of North Carolina are you calling from?" she asked.
When I told her, she told me that her family has a place in Pinehurst and that "When we go, we always go into Fayetteville to shop."
Yep. Fayetteville sure is a place where people shop.
Granted, some folks do leave Fayetteville when in a buying mood.
Local retailers have been known to bemoan the loss of shopping dollars to malls up in the Triangle, the outlets in Smithfield, the shops at the beach and the boutiques in Atlanta.
Yet the retail community as a whole still manages to rake it in.
Let's look at the numbers from the middle of the most recent holiday season with a report from the state Department of Revenue.
The report, which reflects sales made primarily in December of 2008, shows people spent $319 million in Cumberland County during a one-month period.
Only six counties in the state had higher taxable sales on items such as apparel, cars, restaurant meals, furniture, wallpaper, lumber, boats, etc.
And two of those counties - including Durham - just barely edged out Cumberland.
The other counties in the Cape Fear region just don't come close. Hoke, for example, saw $6.2 million in taxable sales that month.
So where are people spending all this money?
Quite a bit of it goes to the chain stores that have created a critical mass in Fayetteville.
And by all means, enjoy yourself at those.
But (forgive me for sounding preachy) make sure you also get off the beaten path. Pick any corner of this city and you're going to find an independent retailer trying to do business.
If you don't recognize the name, make a point of stopping.
These are the people who make Fayetteville's shopping scene different from the other retail landscapes in the country.
Time and time again, I hear from shoppers who say they're looking for "something different." Well, those independent shop owners are trying to give that to you.
Take advantage of their efforts.
- Rebecca Logan
off the rack
What's the latest shopping scoop? Rebecca Logan brings you a look at who is coming, who is going and what's going on in the stores that are staying in her local Off the Rack column each Saturday in The Fayetteville Observer. You can also check out her blog, which is updated regularly, at blogs.fayobserver.com/offtherack/