Weekend Surge May Not Rescue U.S. Retailers From Holiday Slump

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Weekend Surge May Not Rescue U.S. Retailers From Holiday Slump

By Joseph Galante

Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- A surge in spending during the weekend before Christmas may not have been enough to rescue Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Macy's Inc. from the slowest holiday spending season in five years.

Sales rose 19 percent from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 as U.S. shoppers took advantage of half-off sales and extended hours, Chicago-based ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said yesterday. Even with the late increase, spending during the week through Dec. 22 fell 2.2 percent, the fourth straight week of declines.

``It's not going to overcome the negative forecasts,'' Frederick Crawford, managing director at Southfield, Michigan- based AlixPartners LLP, said of the weekend in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``It's going to be a good start, a very weak midsection, and a strong finish. But those two barbells at the end are not going to be able to overcome these last three weeks, which have been very weak.''

Gasoline at $3 a gallon and rising food prices have discouraged shoppers from spending during November and December, which account for 20 percent of retailers' annual revenue, according to the NRF. Target, the second-biggest U.S. discounter, said yesterday that sales at stores open more than a year may decline in December after customer visits slowed in the weeks after Thanksgiving.

Sales in November and December this year may rise 4 percent, the slowest growth since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation. ShopperTrak has predicted a 3.6 percent increase. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aG4Er3qLHtTg&refer=home

[KharmaTrain]

1. Gift Money Went Into Gas Tanks And Heating Bills

What do you expect...when people have to dedicate more money to heating and food and gas, they just might not be interested in blowing money on gifts at the mall. Geesh...where's my Nobel in Ecnoomics?

This year there are a lot more families without incomes or less money this year than last...there are a lot who've seen a job loss or a default or some other economic downturn during the year...and these people are supposed to bail out Target or Wal-Mart? What a shame this country's "health" is based on holiday sales rather than the economy that makes those sales possible.

[OzarkDem]

5. and health care/insurance costs

Dems who think the solution to the health care crisis is to require everyone to buy insurance haven't bothered to look into the rapidly shrinking disposable income of most Americans.

[napi21]

2. I could tell all the retailers must be panicing by the ads in today's

paper! The first flyer I looked at had "Start shopping Wed. morning at 6 AM"!!! They all have early bird specials tomorrow morning!

Maybe NOW the "economy is great" crowd will finally admit that things in the average household are NOT so GREAT!

[marmar]

3. I was at the mall on Sunday, and noticed.....

A)It was busy, but not even close to what you'd expect on Dec. 23.....

and

B) There seemed to be a huge number of stores with 60-70 percent off signs in their display windows.

[OzarkDem]

6. Prices are high, too

You need those discounts just to be able to afford most items. DVD's of Its A Wonderful Life were $22.

[Perry Logan]

4. They will go directly from denying the economy is bad to blaming Bill Clinton for it.

[Retired AF Dem]

7. Or people are realizing they don't need to go broke every

year to make loved ones happy. My wife and I spend no more than a 100 dollars on each other for Christmas. We have been doing this for 15 years now. I don't mind being a retailers nightmare.