W-b/scranton Airport Seeks $3 Liftoff Of Ticket Prices 
Passenger Charge Could Help Pay For New Terminal 
******************* 
Photo 
Times Leader/richard Sabatura

1993 Budget 
Tough Cuts, 
Tough Taxes 
Are At Issue 
In Hazleton 
Mayor Quigley Will Have 
To Answer To Councilmen

Monday, November 30, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A QUICK WORDS: CHRISTMAS SHOPPING 





PLAYING SANTA CLAUS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Shop talk &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Holiday gifts are moving, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 merchants say &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ********************** PHOTOS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/JIM TURELL &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST? -- Tom Habib, of Pittston, consults with Joan Smith, a
sales associate at J.C. Penny's at the Wyoming Valley Mall. Habib was one of
thousands joining the shopping rush. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 SHOWING THE MERCHANDISE -- Boscov's clerk Kim Shoemaker, shows Jean and Pat
Trudnak, of Mocanaqua, items from a watch case Sunday afternoon. The Trudnaks
were in the middle of their Christmas shopping. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 *********************** &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By JAMES RUBIN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Staff Writer &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 WILKES-BARRE -- Shhhh. Don't tell anyone there's a recession. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They're busy shopping. Downtown. At the West Side and Wyoming Valley malls. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For clothes, electronics, bed sheets, jewelry and almost everything else
retailers are putting on their shelves. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Christmas is Christmas, even in hard economic times," said Boscov's
assistant store manager Brian Cann. "People don't want to explain why there's
not something under the tree. Christmas is rarely terrible for retailers." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although it is premature to call this a boom year, retailers say the first
weekend of the holiday shopping season has been a good one. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sales were up -- slightly -- at some stores, such as Boscov's,
significantly in other places, such as the Burlington Coat Factory at the West
Side Mall in Edwardsville. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Despite dismal, overcast skies, shoppers continued the mini-shopping surge
on Sunday, flocking anywhere with an "open for business" sign on the front
door. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just ask Don Angle, manager at Burlington who answered questions in the
clipped and harried tones of a retailer under stress. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're very busy, well ahead of last year," Angle said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 How far ahead? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Angle would not answer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cann did. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Boscov's is about 1 percent ahead of last year's pace and 3 percent over
the year before. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If you combine the first three days of Thanksgiving weekend, we're a
little ahead," said Cann. "That's a good sign for the rest of the shopping
season. Obviously we want to be more ahead but we'll take an increase whatever
it is." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cann said there was no trick to the store's success. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just good merchandise, good prices and extended store hours for people to
shop, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For the next week Boscov's will remain open from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
from Monday to Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "As we get closer to Christmas those hours will get even longer," Cann
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The West Side Mall will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and
Saturdays until Christmas, and from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Wyoming Valley Mall will also have extended hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At Boscov's, shoppers milled through the narrow aisles flanked by Christmas
displays and rows of merchandise. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I enjoy myself every year at this time," said Lynn Bell, 33, who bought
herself a digital alarm clock in the store's fourth floor electronics
department. "If I had to save up for this time of year that's what I'd do." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While Bell made her purchase, her two children, Justin, 8, and Stacy, 4,
followed a line of camcorders that recorded their every movement on four large
television screens. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bell said she'd be back with her husband later in the week. The children
are next on Santa's list, and although she's not about to spill the beans, she
said Justin is a "whiz at computer games." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Salesman Keith Brislin said he sold a variety of items, most of which fell
in the $150 range. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Everything has been going," Brislin said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yet Marcea Wolfe, who has been selling televisions and VCR's at Boscov's
for the past five years, said she noticed a different trend. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "People are buying higher priced items," Wolfe said. "They are buying
better products. After saving up for the year, they want to buy something
good." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cann said the store typically sells large quantities of electronics,
jewelry and perfumes at this time of year.

Playing Santa Claus Shop Talk Holiday Gifts Are Moving, Merchants Say **********************