THE NUMBERS GAME

NEW?GLASGOW - Days before Christmas, downtown shops were alive with people rushing to make their last-minute purchases.
For those looking for unique gifts that you won't find in box stores, New Glasgow's downtown was a hotspot.
"Phenomenal," said Candace MacDonald, owner of Heaven's Delight, said of the sales this season. "We're very, very excited. We're very, very, very busy."
Fudge and old-fashioned candy were flying off the shelves.
"We took a lot of British candy in for the British people," she said.
Ginger chocolates were also popular and the more the 50 fudge flavours left something for everyone to choose.
When people buy old-fashioned candy and fudge they are buying memories, MacDonald said.
They weren't the only ones benefiting from the holiday season.
Shaun MacLean at Lolly's was busy making sure that couriers delivered the gifts that had been ordered while trying to help a hoard of customers check out and wrap their gifts.
"It's been very rewarding," he said. "October, November and December people have been shopping and it's all going good. October and November were up and December is right on par."
Jaclyn MacLeod, an employee at another store downtown that is preparing to close after the holidays said that Christmas sales were good, but not quite what they used to be.
"It was actually busier last year that's for sure," she said. "It's been a slow year for us."
Frances Buchan, owner of Whigmaleries in Pictou also noticed a drop in sales from other years.
"The last couple days have been busy, but up until then it has been quite quiet I thought," she said. "I think people are just cutting back on spending because I don't see the malls particularly busy."