Check Out Line: Holiday cheer seen in short supply
Check out the bah-humbug signs emerging for the upcoming holidays.
The impending U.S. holiday shopping season is expected to be a weak one, but the debate is coming down to whether it could end up as one of the worst on record, as consumers show an increasing reluctance to spend.
Government data released on Friday showed consumers continue to put the brakes on spending. Sales at U.S. retail stores fell for a second straight month, with sales of clothing and electronics, which typically see high demand for back-to-school, were weaker in August than July.
On Tuesday, Deloitte forecast holiday retail sales to rise 2.5 percent to 3 percent for the November to January period, less than last year’s 3.4 percent increase and potentially one of the smallest gains since a 2 percent rise in the holiday season of 1991, when the nation had recently emerged from a recession.
On Wednesday, a Reuters/Zogby survey showed that more than 44 percent of respondents expect to spend either a little less or a lot less on gifts this year than in 2007. Forty-six percent said they would spend about the same and just over 7 percent said they would shell out more.
“This a staggeringly bad number,” said pollster John Zogby, referring to the number of people who said they would spend the same amount on gifts this year.
“You’re still going to have people standing in line at three in the morning at Wal-Mart, but the lines may be thinner this year” on Black Friday, he said.
Also in the basket:
Darden quarterly profit falls on weak traffic
General Mills profit tops Wall Street view
(Photo: Reuters)


