Post-holiday sales bring in shoppers, but they may not be buying

Shoppers returned to the malls Friday to take in post-holiday sales, but reports were mixed about how much they actually spent.

By noon, there was hardly an empty parking space or food court seat at Great Northern Shopping Center in North Olmsted.

Stores offered rock-bottom prices and extended return policies, but many shoppers were on the hunt for big bargains on specific items, hoping to return unwanted gifts or just browsing on a day off work -- not looking to splurge.

Janice Goetz of Olmsted Falls went to Great Northern to exchange a sweater and check out promotions she had seen advertised.

But, she said, she wasn't impressed. Some stores offered $10 or $20 coupons in their advertisements, but the fine print excluded so many products that she wasn't able to use the coupons. Goetz said she picked up a few items for herself but was in no hurry to buy everything she needed.

The sales will be around for a while, she figures.

"They've got so much stuff they're not going to sell it all today," Goetz said.


Many shoppers around the country appeared to be searching for deals unlike any they had seen this year.

Brenda Peterson was looking for "flat-out bargains" after driving 35 miles to arrive at a J.C. Penney in Raleigh, N.C., at 5 a.m., a half-hour before the store opened.

But she left empty-handed. A toy that she had spotted before Christmas -- a stuffed dog that rolls over and shakes its paw -- was gone. And even sales of up to 60 percent off clothing and other items weren't too enticing. After all, she had seen those sales before Christmas, too.

Quinton Cunningham, 20, of Cleveland went to Great Northern with girlfriend Kashuna. The couple decided to buy gifts for each other on Friday rather than exchange gifts on Christmas to save money.

Cunningham said they were able to find some steals, and pulled out a box of designer cologne from a Macy's bag. He said it usually sells for $118.

"I got it for 37 bucks," he said.

Such frugality could spell deep trouble for the nation's stores, which are facing the worst holiday shopping season in decades.

Holiday sales -- which typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total -- have been less than jolly. Job cuts, portfolio losses and other economic woes have led many Americans to cut back on spending. Meanwhile, strong winter storms kept some would-be shoppers at home.

According to preliminary data from SpendingPulse, which tracks purchases paid for by credit card, checks or cash, retail sales fell between 5.5 percent and 8 percent during the holiday season compared with last year. Excluding auto and gas sales, they fell 2 percent to 4 percent, according to SpendingPulse.

More people did appear to shop online, particularly in the last two weeks of the season, when storms hit. Online sales dipped just 2.3 percent, SpendingPulse said.

A fuller indicator of how retailers fared will arrive Jan. 8, when major stores report same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, for December.

Many stores are likely to report a loss for the fourth quarter, said NPD senior retail analyst Marshal Cohen.

Stores hoped that big discounts the day after Christmas could lure people out.

At Great Northern, you wouldn't know that retailers were hurting. Linda Siple of Rochester, N.Y., said she hadn't had big shopping goals. But, after a few hours of shopping, her arms were filled with clothing-filled bags.

She said she couldn't resist some of the bargains she found at J.C. Penny, which had items marked down as much as 60 percent.

"I ended up with more than I planned," she said.

But while many malls appeared to be busy, analysts said traffic seemed to be lighter than in years past.

The parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Milwaukee was less than one-third full Friday morning, with many shoppers appearing to stock up on groceries and small household items.

Gigi Johnson, a special needs teacher, bought laundry detergent and clothes for her twin 14-year-old daughters. But she said she did not plan any large purchases for the next few months and would put the money she received from Christmas in the bank.

"Maybe I'll wait until tax time and get a computer or TV," Johnson said. "But until then, I'm resisting the temptation to buy anything else."