Good afternoon, shoppers.  Sorry for the late update, but it’s been a busy morning. Here’s what on tap for today:

• I finally found out what’s going at the Orchards Shopping Center on 72nd and Chestnut avenues.

Heavenly Sleep Shops, which will sell several brands of mattresses from Simmons, Serta to Tempur-Pedic, will open next month, said owner Ken Mullinax, of Spokane.

Mullinax is the owner of Mattress Outlet, a chain of mattress stores throughout the Northwest, including one at 2107 S. First St. in Yakima.

Those stores only offer the Serta-brand mattresses.

But with one store opening, another one is closing. Mullinax also owns the Simmons Comfort World store in downtown Yakima. He plans on closing that store next month and transferring the two employees who work there to the West Valley store.

Mullinax said he wanted to reposition his focus to West Valley, where he believes there is more residential growth and more demand for stores such as his.

Mullinax is no stranger to the Yakima Valley. He grew up in Selah and graduated from Selah High School. He also has an associate’s degree in business from Yakima Valley Community College.

• Still checking on when Second Street Grill will be opening. I know it’s close, but I promise the moment I find out the opening date I’ll let you all know.

• How many times have you been asked to apply for a credit card during your shopping trip at Target? Well, USA Today reports that Target and Nordstrom are facing surging credit card delinquencies. Those two retailers are especially at risk because, unlike other retailers, they own all or some of the credit card portfolios.

• Mothers are no stranger to sacrifice, but it looks like they’re sacrificing even more during the holidays. Mothers plan to spend about 7.6 percent less on holiday gifts this year, according to a survey from the Marketing to Moms Coalition, a nonprofit group that studies the habits and purchasing patterns of mothers. About 87 percent of those surveyed plan on shopping at big discount retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target.

You can download the news release with more highlights of the survey.

• Finally, a request to Shop Talk readers. I’m working on a story about whether the economy has stifled holiday parties this year. Have you seen your company change plans for its holiday party because of economic conditions? Or do they still have something to celebrate? Send me your company holiday party stories, both good and bad. 

That’s it for now. As always, I can be reached by e-mail at mhoang@yakimaherald.com or commenting below.
Happy shopping.

-- Posted by Mai Hoang