Between exchanges and offbeat purchases, Christmas persists in several stores in Alès

At Casa’Jeux, families come to spend the money received under the tree. Midi Libre – Paul Barraud

The day after Christmas, exchanges and purchases related to the festivities continue in several stores in Alès, which shows a good month in terms of sales.

Unsurprisingly, the streets of Alès seem much quieter than the previous days, this Thursday, December 26.

On the Grand-Rue, the Bertoul store, known in particular for its plethora of small artisanal gifts, is offering Christmas decorations at 30% off. Not surprising given the calendar, and then “it allows us to clear out the stock a bit”, add Frédérique and Yves Delon, owners of the place.

However, during this first morning after Christmas, the couple is already seeing requests for returns from customers whose gifts weren't really appealing the day before. “It could be quite a few things, but for example, one lady came to return a handbag that she wanted to exchange”. For the store, this does not impact turnover (read below), but “when you have sold something, you are usually happy not to see it again.”That said, the event seems to be just a detail, the Christmas sales, which started here in November, were positive: “We are happy, there were of course more visitors in the last few days but we also saw that sales were made regularly. Unlike other years, we did not have any ups and downs.”

Exchanges and a good season

Not far away, at the Casa’Jeux, a card and board game store, three young people accompanied by their parents come to Maël Cousinier's counter, tickets in their hands. Two of them ask for playing cards: “It's with Santa's money”, smiles one of the parents who accompanies them. A case that shows, for the seller, that the Christmas season, which looks good, is not over: “We'll know more at the end of the month, but it should be pretty good”.

At the Sauramps bookstore, “customers have already brought back a few books to exchange”, the team specifies, “it's part of the habits, we're prepared for it”. Exchanges that are carried out with simple modalities (read below). Anyway, just like in the other stores mentioned, the bookstore is starting to talk about a good season when it comes to Christmas: “It feels good”.

How to exchange your gifts ?

Unfortunately, it happens that the gifts offered under the tree are duplicates or do not suit their recipients. Prepared for this eventuality, most stores accept returns for exchanges. This is the case in bookstores, where books are taken back upon presentation of the receipt in exchange for a credit note. The principle is also respected in other stores such as Bertoul or Casa’Jeux. Please note that store managers accept the exchange and issue of credit notes as long as the returned product is in perfect condition to be put back on the shelf, under protection in the case of packaged products.