The holiday shopping season this year is forecasted to be a good one for retailers, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), which projects that shoppers will spend up to nearly $990 billion nationwide, a roughly 3% increase compared to last year's numbers.
In San Ysidro, small businesses rely on shoppers from both sides of the border. Bargain Zone on Calle Primera has been around for 17 years. The family that runs the store has been in the retail industry for more than 30 years, and they're concerned this year that longer wait times at the border are to blame for what she claims is a lack of customers.
NBC 7 spoke with Carmen Salazar De La Cruz, one of the customers getting their holiday shopping done at Bargain Zone. She said she waited about four hours to cross into the U.S. on Sunday morning, because, she said, shopping in the U.S. is cheaper than in Mexico.
"I think here the prices are lower," De La Cruz said.
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The operators of Bargain Zone believe the popularity of online shopping has also impacted brick-and mortar stores. Black Friday sales for online shopping saw a year-over-year increase of more than 10%, according to Adobe Analytics, while in-store traffic fell 8%.
A few blocks down on Virginia Avenue, Deal Hunterz was cashing in on the holiday shopping rush.
"We do flash sales, we have raffles, we make the people want to come and shop, because sometimes business does get slow," said Esmeralda Hernandez, a manager at Deal Hunterz.
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The products sold at Deal Hunterz are nearly all returned items from major retailers like Costco, Amazon and Target, which are then sold at a lower price.
Despite the NRF'S projected 3% increase in revenue in holiday shopping this year, Hernandez said sales have been about the same as last year.
NBC 7 reached out to the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce for comment on the holiday shopping season in San Ysidro but is still waiting to hear back.
