The Economy that Stole Christmas

According to the Dallas Morning News article, "Wal-Mart posts decent sales; other retailers slump," by Maria Halkia on Dec. 5, 2008:

With only 20 days left to Christmas, Wal-Mart is having a decent holiday season. But most other major retailers reported lower November sales as shoppers cherry-pick the best deals and pass on the rest.

November's 2.7 percent same-store sales decline based on the results that major U.S. chains reported Thursday, is the worst since the International Council of Shopping Centers started keeping track in 1969.

Ignore Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s results – which prop up the total – and the other 35 or so companies averaged a 7.8 percent drop in November same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters.

With the U.S. economy officially in a recession and layoffs accelerating, there appears to be little on the horizon to boost consumer confidence as retailers get a new lesson on how price-sensitive shoppers have become.
The recession and a weaker-than-expected November led the shopping center council to lower its holiday forecast from a 1 percent increase to a range of flat to down 1 percent in the combined November-December period. That would be the weakest holiday-sales performance on record, said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist and director of research.

Continue reading this article from the Dallas Morning News here.