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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: December 27, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - Janet Railey knows the drill.

About noon Friday, the Dade City resident emerged from Kmart in the Townview Square mall on U.S. 301 in Zephyrhills.

As a store worker wrestled a 71/2-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree into her backseat, Railey, who purchased the Martha Stewart brand tree for $129.99, half the regular price, said she has shopped every Dec. 26 in recent memory.

"I mostly bought Christmas decorations," she said. "I'm going to Wal-Mart across the street next."
Railey was one of thousands of shoppers returning items and seeking post-holiday sales across Pasco County. As she left Kmart, Tara Blackmon of Trilby was heading inside with her daughters, Nylah Blackmon, 4, and Nia Henderson, 15, and her mother, Dorothy Blackmon.

"I'm returning a pair of pants and a shirt," Tara Blackmon said. "I would have returned it yesterday, but nothing was open."
Blackmon said her group also would likely shop at two nearby Bealls stores, as well as Wal-Mart.

At Gulf View Square mall in Port Richey, mall manager Ron Sikora said customer traffic was getting heavy by midmorning.

"We opened at 8 a.m. and there were a few people waiting at the entrance, but nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "It's gotten noticeably busier by the hour, though. I think a lot of it is returns, but there are a lot of deep discounts, especially on winter apparel. The stores are trying to clear out their merchandise."

Despite all the headlines about a stumbling national economy, Sikora said the mall's holiday sales didn't seem low.

"I don't have all the final numbers in yet, but based on traffic it appeared to be about even with last year," he said.

About noon, the parking lot at The Grove at Wesley Chapel, just west of Interstate 75 and north of County Road 54, was mostly full, as shoppers carried their bags from one store to the next. Among the throng was Sylvia Morales of Naples, who was visiting a friend in Wesley Chapel.

"It worked out well; they have good sales," Morales said as she left Michael's arts and crafts store. "We got some of our items for 50 to 70 percent off."

At the Old City Market on Eighth Street in Dade City, customer traffic grew steadier by the minute as 1 p.m. approached.

Longtime friends Jo Ann Yates and Rhonda Curabba, both of Dade City, had just eaten lunch at Matter of Taste restaurant on Seventh Street with Joyce Wood of Statesboro, Ga. As Van Morrison songs played on the store's sound system, the women browsed an array of furniture, artwork and decorating items.

The women said they stepped into the store on a whim.

In one section of the store they looked over votive candles that smelled like fresh linen, a Chinese calligraphy brush and a purple party hat with the word "Diva!" written across the front.

"Oh, how cute!" Curabba, Yates and Wood said - in unison - of the hat.

In moments, they were browsing a display of vintage postcard trays and assorted desk accessories.

"We're just getting started," Wood said.

Photographer Andy Jones contributed to this report. Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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