Holiday Sales Miss Projections

NEW YORK CITY-Retailers’ same-store sales over the holiday season did not meet the expectations of trade groups and some analysts after posting a 2.3% gain from the previous year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ monthly sales survey. But chain stores in December did post a 2.7% gain year-over-over, which was an improvement over November’s 1.8%.

Consumers, the report says, were deterred by weak economic conditions and an increase in jobless claims. That led to late holiday shopping, which caused retailers to put deep discounts on their items in order to move merchandise.

“The 2004 holiday season was marked by some consumer spending shifts, including an increased use of online and mail order shopping as a share of total holiday expenditures, as well as an increased use of gift cards that will largely extend the holiday shopping season into January 2005 and beyond,” says Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research, in a statement. “The mixed holiday season’s performance is likely to extend into 2005.”