Crowds converge on DaySpring Sale

DaySpring’s annual Outlet Store Sale will be bringing crowds of holiday shoppers to Siloam Springs this week.

Brenda Turner, director of communications for the company, estimated that more than 5,000 people will be attending the sale, which begins Thursday and lasts through Saturday.

Each year about 20 tour buses bring customers from as far away as Oklahoma City to attend the sale and view the fall foliage in the Ozarks, Turner said. Individual customers also come from Missouri, Kansas and from as far away as New Mexico and Knoxville, Tenn.

Turner said the sale was started years ago as an opportunity to minister to the community, build awareness about DaySpring’s permanent outlet store in Signature Plaza and reduce overstock items. It also has a definite economic impact on Siloam Springs because many of the customers visit other stores or go out to eat at local restaurants while visiting the sale. Many groups coming on church buses schedule restaurant reservations in advance, she said.

“People will shop for three or four hours,” Turner said. “Some shop and go have lunch, and then come back and shop some more.”

Some customers have been coming to the sale for more than 10 years. Over the years, DaySpring has even had some celebrity guests including Jim Bakker Ministries and the Dugger family, who came to shop with

their film crew.

This year, the annual sale will be held in DaySpring’s new warehouse for the first time. The sale will take up over half of the warehouse, and Turner estimated that more than 50,000 to 75,000 individual items representing 500 to 740 products will be for sale.

The most popular items are Christmas cards and calenders. Prices range from $25 for the most expensive items to just 10 cents, Turner said.

Many customers also make plans for the sale, which is always held the weekend before Thanksgiving, years in advance. Preparation for the sale begins in July, and it takes the efforts of all DaySpring employees, according to Turner.

“It’s a company-wide event,” Turner said. “All employees are involved in some way.”

The sale will open at 7 a.m. each day and close at 5 p.m., Nov. 17 through Nov. 19. The warehouse is located across the street from DaySpring’s corporate offices at 21154 Arkansas Highway 16 East.