At a time when businesses nationwide are closing their doors, stores in Ridgeland are doing just the opposite as both sales and confidence are rising.

"You hear about some of these chains that are slowly going down and closing doors and stuff like that, but ours has been good," said Whitney Giordano, owner of Material Girls, a girl's clothing store. The newest location that opened in mid-March at Renaissance at Colony Park in Ridgeland. "It's continued to grow, and I know as the holidays get closer, sales are going to continue to keep going up."

In October, retail sales dropped by 2.8 percent, the most on record, and the fourth consecutive drop this year. And for this holiday season, the National Retail Federation has predicted holiday sales growth to be around 2.2 percent, almost half of what it traditionally is every year. But even though the statistics are staggering, they don't have these business owners in Mississippi worried.

"I really don't feel that it's going to hurt me that much," said Giordano. "People are shopping more local now because of the way the economy is. They want to help everybody around them."

Red Square Clothing Company, a men's clothing store, opened its doors three months ago, along with several other retail boutiques in the Renaissance shopping center. When asked whether it was a regrettable decision in light of the economy, assistant store manager Emily Perry responded with a resounding "no".  She said last year, however, she worked at another store in a mall, and holiday shopping was busier.

"We've exceeded our goals that we thought we were going to make," said Perry. "So our present goals have been accomplished and then some."

And when it comes to goals, Black Friday, the infamous shopping day the day after Thanksgiving, is high on retail owner's list. Perry's store didn't have anything to compare it with since they're the only store within the company.

"We were a little bit scared at first because the rain kind of scared a lot of people away as well as the Egg bowl, you know everyone was at home watching TV," said Perry. "But once the game was over, the rain slowed down, the people started coming in in full force. So we had a huge day yesterday."

Giordano said when it comes to shopping at the outdoor mall in Ridgeland, weather plays a huge role in sales.

"Well, we had set goals," said Giordano on Friday's shopping day. "We hit right at that, but it rained here, and we don't have the walkways, you know, at Renaissance."

Giordano added: "Well there's fighting two things. You have the economy and you have two locations. So it was a little bit different. It was down a little bit, but I wouldn't say too much. But I expected that."

Kathryn Schamburger is one owner of Pink Bombshell, a girl's clothing store, at Renaissance. The store, which has one more location, opened up four months ago. She said that as far as sales are concerned, the store is down almost half of what it was this time last year.

"We got busy a couple of weeks before Christmas last year, so we're hoping for that this year, too," said Schamburger. She added, however, that it was not enough to hurt the store.

"Actually, it's been really good out here for us so far and we hope it continues that way," noted Schamburger.

FOX 40 News traveled down the street and spoke with owner of Diva Dog, a Ridgeland boutique focusing on pet gifts and grooming.

"I've seen an increase [in sales compared with last year]," said store owner Julie Stockton.

"Actually, I'm quite surprised at how early holiday spending has already begun," Stockton added.