Early readings from Toys R Us, Sears Holdings Corp. and several mall operators show packed stores on Christmas Eve following a busy week fueled by shoppers who delayed buying, waiting for bigger discounts that never came or slowed by last weekend's big East Coast snowstorm.
Stores are counting on these stragglers in a season that so far appears slightly better than last year's disaster. The jury is still out, because the week after Christmas accounts for about 15 percent of sales as gift card-toting shoppers return to malls.
"The procrastinators were really out in force," says David Bassuk, managing director in the retail practice of AlixPartners, a global business advisory firm. "But I think retailers needed to be more aggressive to fight for those sales. A lot of people are still willing to hold out until after Christmas because the deals weren't as good."
A Christmas Eve snowstorm in the nation's heartland were slowing some shoppers after snarling roads in the mountain states a day earlier.
At the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., shoppers were scarce and those who showed up had entire stores to themselves.
Steve Burns, 42, and his daughter, Amber, 15, of Hastings, Minn., took advantage of the empty stores to browse for shirts and other last-minute gifts. Burns said the snow wasn't a problem and traffic was light because others stayed home. "It doesn't bother me any," he said.
Some shoppers had challenges finding what they wanted as stores had slashed their inventories heading into the season. An Ann Taylor store at Westside Pavilion in West Los Angeles pulled in 33 cartons of January merchandise earlier than planned, according to Rebecca Stenholm, a company spokesman at the mall's operator, Macerich Co.
Joe Roberts, 59, left a RadioShack at a mall in Madison, Wis., with a huge smile and the PlayStation3 his teenage son insisted on for Christmas.
He said he delayed making the $300 purchase because of economic concerns. A self-employed designer of manufacturing equipment, Roberts is getting less business every year and his wife might soon lose her job as an office manager.
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