Some local retailers have reaped benefits from economic stimulus checks, while others have seen little of the trickle-down effect from the intended economic boost.

In February, a National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGresearch found that consumers planned to use their rebate checks to pay down debt and medical bills, save and invest.

But did they? 

“I may have seen one or two people use them [for shopping], but it is uncommon,” said Shelley Fudge-Pugh, owner of Baby Britches, a children’s clothing store on University Drive in Denton. “They may have gotten some shopping done.”

Soren Palmquist, an agent with Mean Green Travel, said he could not tell if people had specifically used their stimulus checks to purchase travel tickets.

“No one has specifically stated [that they have],” he said. “But it just may be going into their gas tank.”

A number of people have bemoaned the continued hikes in gasoline prices, now hovering around $3.95 to $3.98 a gallon at local gas stations.

Some retailers in southern Denton saw a different side to the stimulus check effect.

“We certainly heard a lot of talk about it,” said Bob Kirby, store manager with Circuit City’s location in Denton. “They bought new stuff when they got their checks.”

Among the items area consumers bought were high-definition televisions and other electronics.

“People came in and bought those things with the stimulus money,” he said. “You would hear it in their conversation.”

While some people spent their rebate checks, Laney Watson, a supervisor at Circuit City, chose to save the money — at least for now. “I have been saving a lot, though,” she said.

Watson said she saved her money because she is about to move from Denton to McKinney.

“It will probably go to a 42-inch plasma TV,” she said. “I know it.”

One financial advisor said he knows of several people who invested the rebate checks or paid bills.

“I know a couple of people who have used their stimulus check to pay off bills, credit cards or invested the money — myself included,” said Ryan Everett, a financial advisor with Edward Jones.

“To me it was free money; it was not money that I had earned,” he said of the check. “I felt that paying a credit card bill or investing it would be in my best interest.”

KARINA RAMIREZ can be reached at 940-566-6897. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com.