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Christmas Sales Poor
Aired December 24, 2002 - 14:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: America's retail sector is having itself a not so merry little Christmas. Emphasize "little." Merchants are hoping for a crush of last minute shoppers today, and bargain hunters after Christmas to make up for disappointing sales up until now.
CNN's Ceci Rodgers watching the foot traffic at Whitfield (ph) Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois -- Ceci, how is it looking?
CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there are more people here than there were this morning, and to talk to retailers, they say it isn't over until it is over, so don't count out this holiday season, even though analysts are pretty down about what the results are likely to be. It is four hours and counting now until the stores close.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS (voice-over): Shoppers are running out of time to buy gifts for Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a little something different, some stocking stuffers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We kind of have to find something for our moms.
RODGERS: Retailers hope those last-minute shoppers will spend enough to salvage what is shaping up as the worst holiday sales season in years. Barring a miracle, holiday sales in stores open more than a year may rise only between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent from last year.
One reason people are not buying as many gifts has to do with the uncertainty about a possible war with Iraq, but the main reasons, analysts say, are the economy and job worries.
KURT BARNARD, "BARNARD'S RETAIL TREND REPORT": And when jobs are scarce, and when people are worried about the possibility of losing their jobs, and they hold back, keep their hands in their pockets, and spend as little as they can get away with.
RODGERS: Even the big discounters like Wal-Mart are warning that this year's sales are, so far, disappointing. Target said its sales continue to fall below its modest forecast for a 3 to 5 percent increase. And hurting the most, high-end stores such as Bloomingdale's and Macy's. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people are probably buying cheaper things, maybe more things, but buying cheaper things. Like I know we cut down our list more this year than we have in the past, didn't buy for as many people.
RODGERS: For shoppers with the means to buy, department stores are offering the deals of a lifetime, more than half off at department stores such Sears, J.C. Penny, and Kohl's. Forty percent off a wide variety of goods at Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and even pre-Christmas sales on toys, up to 30 percent off. Retailers are hoping the bargains will cause last-minute shoppers to spend than they had planned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: But the problem is, retailers have really trained consumers to wait, wait until after Christmas for those even better sales. Gift certificate sales here at Whitfield Mall are up 30 percent, and analysts say that may be because consumers are getting wise to the fact that if they give a gift certificate to a shopping mall, then their recipient can go out and get the even deeper discounts, another 10 percent off the day after Christmas, and then 75 percent off the day after New Year's some of the retailers around here are telling us -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Ceci Rodgers, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 24, 2002 - 14:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: America's retail sector is having itself a not so merry little Christmas. Emphasize "little." Merchants are hoping for a crush of last minute shoppers today, and bargain hunters after Christmas to make up for disappointing sales up until now.
CNN's Ceci Rodgers watching the foot traffic at Whitfield (ph) Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois -- Ceci, how is it looking?
CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there are more people here than there were this morning, and to talk to retailers, they say it isn't over until it is over, so don't count out this holiday season, even though analysts are pretty down about what the results are likely to be. It is four hours and counting now until the stores close.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS (voice-over): Shoppers are running out of time to buy gifts for Christmas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for a little something different, some stocking stuffers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We kind of have to find something for our moms.
RODGERS: Retailers hope those last-minute shoppers will spend enough to salvage what is shaping up as the worst holiday sales season in years. Barring a miracle, holiday sales in stores open more than a year may rise only between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent from last year.
One reason people are not buying as many gifts has to do with the uncertainty about a possible war with Iraq, but the main reasons, analysts say, are the economy and job worries.
KURT BARNARD, "BARNARD'S RETAIL TREND REPORT": And when jobs are scarce, and when people are worried about the possibility of losing their jobs, and they hold back, keep their hands in their pockets, and spend as little as they can get away with.
RODGERS: Even the big discounters like Wal-Mart are warning that this year's sales are, so far, disappointing. Target said its sales continue to fall below its modest forecast for a 3 to 5 percent increase. And hurting the most, high-end stores such as Bloomingdale's and Macy's. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people are probably buying cheaper things, maybe more things, but buying cheaper things. Like I know we cut down our list more this year than we have in the past, didn't buy for as many people.
RODGERS: For shoppers with the means to buy, department stores are offering the deals of a lifetime, more than half off at department stores such Sears, J.C. Penny, and Kohl's. Forty percent off a wide variety of goods at Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and even pre-Christmas sales on toys, up to 30 percent off. Retailers are hoping the bargains will cause last-minute shoppers to spend than they had planned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RODGERS: But the problem is, retailers have really trained consumers to wait, wait until after Christmas for those even better sales. Gift certificate sales here at Whitfield Mall are up 30 percent, and analysts say that may be because consumers are getting wise to the fact that if they give a gift certificate to a shopping mall, then their recipient can go out and get the even deeper discounts, another 10 percent off the day after Christmas, and then 75 percent off the day after New Year's some of the retailers around here are telling us -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Ceci Rodgers, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
