If the numbers and information provided by local merchants are any indication, then Bainbridge citizens and businesses enjoyed a very good Christmas 2015. It also seems many shoppers waited until the last week to complete their shopping lists.

The Post Searchlight was able to speak with six businesses who related their Christmas sales experiences.

Threasa Hall, manager of Belk, said sales this December were better than last. The biggest sellers were the drones, which sold out right away. Women’s boots were also in great demand, as they are every year. She thinks the better sales figures are a combination of having a good inventory of desirable product as well as a result of an improved economy, and said Bainbridge needs to continue to grow and provide jobs and advancements in order for retailers to continue to be profitable.

Tom Reeves of Reeve’s Linens and Gifts reported their sales were a good bit better than last year. Their busiest days were the last days before Christmas. Usually it has been the day before Christmas, but this year Wednesday was the best day.

He attributes the good sales to having an inventory of desirable items, many of which are perfect last minute gifts.

George Davis, assistant manager at Stone’s Stores, said Christmas sales were pretty good this year — about like last year. He said they could probably have doubled their sales if they had received the shipment of Yeti supplies that were on order, as they had lots of requests for those. As usual, they sold a lot of Georgia boots.

Randee Eubanks, who owns Bella’s Boutique, reported she had a good holiday season, especially the two weeks leading up to Christmas. She thinks sales were about even with last year. Her best selling items were caps, T-shirts and women’s clothing.

Edwin McCullers said sales at Flint River Outfitters were “out of the ballpark.” He said people began shopping in September, but it really came to a head the week of Christmas, with Dec. 23 being the biggest day. His best selling items were Yeti coolers, a tremendous number of guns, apparel and jewelry. They also sold a large number of gift cards, sometimes as much as $3000 worth in a day. He added that those are not included in his total sales until they are redeemed.

Olivia Reynolds reported the gift department at Bainbridge Pharmacy was very busy all season, but they had a lot of last minute shoppers on Christmas Eve. She said they kept busy wrapping over 3000 gifts. Her view on shoppers is that they start out frugal, but as the last minutes appear, the sky’s the limit.