'Posted on Fri, Dec. 22, 2006

Mexican shoppers helping make Texas' holiday season profitable

ALICIA A. CALDWELL

Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas - Hundreds of last-minute shoppers jammed the streets of downtown El Paso on Friday morning, many carrying armloads of plastic shopping bags.

A pedestrian line leading to an international bridge connecting the far West Texas city with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was just as crowded with bundled up shoppers heading back to Mexico.

It's a typical scene this time of year, and with just three shopping days left until Christmas it looks like this holiday season is on track to be a very lucrative one for border-area retailers from El Paso to McAllen.

"It looks very good, real positive," said Steve Ahlenius, president and CEO of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. "My prediction ... was a 7 percent to 10 percent increase over last year."

Ahlenius, who works with retailers in and around McAllen, said Mexican shoppers spent much of the more than $3 billion in November and December of last year. He said he won't know for sure just how profitable this holiday season has been until January.

"It's crazy, that traffic is unbelievable," Ahlenius said. "You drive through ... a mall property and you see an overwhelming number of Mexican license plates."

Mike Breitinger, executive director of the Central Business Association in El Paso, said retailers are reporting having to restock shelves as often as twice a day.

Friday morning some stores employees were even unloading merchandise on crowded sidewalks in front of busy stores.

In years past, Breitinger said, shelves weren't empty until the end of the day.

Breitinger said sales totals for El Paso's downtown retailers also won't be available until at least January.

The sunny outlook is a departure from stores in the rest of the country in December, one retail analyst said.

"Regular shopping has ben muted so far, except in November," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group in Nutley, N.J. "A lot of retailers in the month of November posted big discounts. Once (shoppers) got them in November there was little enticement to wait until December."

Along the border, the strong sales may be the result of a growing Mexican economy and stable political situation has likely fueled this year's strong sales, Ahlenius said.

"The elections in Mexico went well and (President Felipe) Calderon is ... very much pro-business," Ahlenius said. "And we haven't seen any signs of a Peso devaluation."

For Julieta Perez, a 36-year-old mother of two from Ciudad Juarez, politics had little do with her choice to walk over the crowded bridge Friday morning.

"It's a tradition," Perez said in Spanish.'

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