Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday of the year. We have a long weekend. There are football games on every single day. And, there are lots of leftovers at the ready.
It seems as if every year we're bombarded by media predictions of how bad this Christmas will be. This year is no exception, as folks are predicting that this will be the worst Christmas ever.
- Holiday shoppers face economic reality.
- Sales outlook worries stores.
- As economy slides, regifting becomes more popular.
- Strikes, recession fears cast shadow over holiday season.
Even the reality of crowded stores is presented as if the consumer is bucking the horrible economic headwinds.
- Holiday shoppers get in the spirit... "as headlines heralded Grinchy economic news."
- Stores crowded, despite oil, housing concerns.
Of course, we'll have to wait and see if this is the Worst. Christmas. Ever.
So far? Retailers cheer initial holiday sales.
The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country.
According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.