Slumping Santa"""" Macy's, Gap, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Target, Abercrombie & Fitch sales Decline

and a host of other retailers reported double-digit percentage declines in November sales from a year ago, reflecting both a quirk in the retail calendar and a worsening economy.

The miserable November marked the weakest month since at least 1969 amid deepening fears that the critical holiday period could be the most dismal in decades.
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Retailers limped through a miserable November that even a surge of shopping after Thanksgiving couldn't save, making it the weakest month since at least 1969.
(John H. White/Sun-Times)

* WEB SLOWDOWN: Online merchants finally got some relief. Online sales rose 15 percent for the Monday after Thanksgiving, according to research company comScore Inc. But that gain was fueled by a 22 percent increase in the number of buyers, who spent 5 percent less than a year ago.

* THE LULL: Analysts expect stores will need to offer even more aggressive discounts to entice shoppers, who are cutting their holiday budgets. There are also five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

* HOLIDAY'S PROFITS: The deep discounts are hurting margins. Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to drop 16 percent from a year ago, according to Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics LLC. Excluding Wal-Mart, that drop would be 23.5 percent.

AP

As merchants announced their November sales figures Thursday, the deep malaise cut across all sectors as shoppers preoccupied with layoffs and shrinking retirement funds focus on necessities.

Among the beneficiaries was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which posted sales that beat Wall Street estimates.

However, Costco Wholesale Corp., usually a strong performer, reported a bigger-than expected sales decline. And most mall-based chains and department stores such as teen stalwart Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. fared much worse, reporting percentage declines of more than 10 percent.

The same-store sales declines included Nordstrom, down 15.9 percent; Macy's, down 13.3 percent; Bon-Ton Stores, which include Carson Pirie Scott & Co., down 16 percent; Kohl's, down 17.5 percent; J.C. Penney, down 11.9 percent; Target, down 10.4 percent; Abercrombie & Fitch, down 28 percent; Gap, down 10 percent; Saks, down 5.2 percent.

Sales data from the Thanksgiving weekend showed a buying binge on Black Friday, but shoppers retreated the rest of the weekend.

And even at the stores on Friday, they focused on bargains and on small-ticket purchases as they slash their holiday budgets, meaning only modest sales gains for the weekend. Now concerns are growing that shoppers won't return to malls until the final days before Christmas.

Many stores blamed their weak November figures in part to a quirk in the calendar -- a late Thanksgiving means that the month's reporting period does not include a whole week of post-holiday shopping compared with a year ago. Niemira estimated that factor depressed November figures -- and will benefit December -- by 1.5 percentage points to 2.0 percentage points.

"It's an awful beginning to the holiday season," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at International Council of Shopping Centers. "This is going to be a difficult holiday season for most retailers.

According to the Goldman Sachs-International Council of Shopping Centers sales index of 37 stores, sales dropped 2.7 percent for November, making it the worst month since at least 1969 source>>>

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