Retailers report busy weekend nationwide

Anne D'Innocenzio

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

With nine days until Christmas, shoppers jammed into U.S. malls over the weekend, snapping up bargains on clothing and electronics.

Still, jitters about jobs and the economy dampened sales, frustrating merchants who had been counting on a big pickup following lackluster shopping after the Thanksgiving weekend. That means that there will be more pressure on retailers in the final stretch to meet their already modest sales goals for the holiday season.

"This week is going to be a big battle to get consumers to spend," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, based in Charleston, S.C., noting that sales on Saturday and Sunday, though solid, still fell short of expectations.

Indeed, consumers were being choosy with a focus on bargains.

Amanda Loughry, a store manager at Pier 1 Imports in Towson, Md., said that "People are still buying, but are more aware of prices."

She added that small gifts ready wrapped with netting and ribbon marked down slightly to $10 and $5 were selling quickly.

"We pick out what we want, and then look around for the lowest price. As long as it's the quality we want," said Scott Harrington, 46, of Baltimore, who made a special trip at a Hecht's store in Towson, Md., to buy a mattress on sale for $50 -- 50 percent off the regular price.

Dennis Sullivan, 48, of Harford County, Md., shopping at the Towson Town Center, bought five silver jewelry charms marked down 50 percent.

"I bought more than one, because it was such a good deal," said Sullivan.

In fact, one consumer -- Doreen Carlson, 56 -- regretted going out early to buy gifts.

"I started out early, and I've decided that's not a good thing," said Carlson, who was at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., at the end of this past week. The woman said one game she bought originally for $45 she found at Target this past week for $18. She decided to return the original.

Merchants are finding themselves in the same spot they were a year ago, dependent on late buying to lift sales above their expectations for a sluggish season. Retailers got a last-minute reprieve in 2001, but there is no guarantee that will happen again.

Michael P. Niemira, vice president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, believes that if the last-minute spending splurge doesn't meet expectations, sales will fall below 2 percent same-store sales gain for the combined November and December months.

Same-stores sales are sales at stores opened at least a year and are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health.

And Madison Riley, principal at Kurt Salmon Associates, a retail consulting firm, is already lowering his estimate for the holiday season, saying that same-store sales gains will be in the 2 to 3 percent range, instead of the 2 to 4 percent range.

Major stores were scheduled today to report their weekly results, including sales from this past weekend.

Meanwhile, online sales, which peaked on Thursday at $288 million, didn't show as dramatic a decline as expected. They rose 73 percent Saturday to $263 million from the same time a year ago, according comScore Networks. The figures excludes travel sales, such as airline tickets.

New York City stores appeared to benefit from fear of a possible New York City mass transit strike, which could begin Monday.

"Stores were unusually busy," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report, noting that he believed that some shoppers were scrambling to finish their holiday shopping just in case the strike happens.

The shutdown of mass transportation would make it difficult for local residents to lug home packages, and it could scare commuters from coming into the city to shop.

Outside of New York City, at least one mall operator -- Taubman Centers Inc. -- reported a strong uptick in sales.

"We are definitely pleased with traffic and sales," said Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman, which operates 31 malls in 13 states. A survey about one third of the company's mall centers reported an increase of anywhere from low to mid single digits this weekend, compared with a year ago, she said.

Said Tom Williams, a company spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., "We are pleased with what we are seeing in the stores."

The sluggish economy has dampened sales at even Wal-Mart, which said last week that same-store sales gain for December will be at the low end of the company's 3 to 5 percent range.

Tom Garofalo of Beachwood, N.J., who was shopping at the Ocean County Mall in Toms River, N.J., said: "I'll rein in the spending" until the recession passes.