Holiday Sales

Stores in outlet centers owned by Baltimore-based Prime Retail Inc. saw their sales rise 4.08 percent during the holiday season, the company said yesterday.Customer traffic at the company's 50 outlet centers nationwide also increased -- by 4.77 percent -- for the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.Prime Retail, the world's largest developer, owner and manager of outlet centers, based its results on a preliminary sampling of sales reported by about 500 merchants in all categories."Several factors, including a growing consumer emphasis on value, the great variety and large selection of brand-name merchandise available and an additional shopping day, helped achieve these increases," said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and chief operating officer for the real estate investment trust.

A burst of post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping gave retail sales a boost in November, after a mostly sluggish month.Warm weather during the first weeks of the month hurt apparel sales at many stores. But a strong kickoff to holiday shopping helped many chains post increases compared with November 1998.Chain store sales rose 4 percent in November, according to a tally of 69 chain stores by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. Most of the nation's retailers reported monthly sales yesterday."The Friday after Thanksgiving, everything changed, and people were out in full force buying like crazy," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report, of Upper Montclair, N.J. "It helped a little, but not very much.

Stores in outlet centers owned by Baltimore-based Prime Retail Inc. saw their sales rise 4.08 percent during the holiday season, the company said yesterday.Customer traffic at the company's 50 outlet centers nationwide also increased -- by 4.77 percent -- for the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.Prime Retail, the world's largest developer, owner and manager of outlet centers, based its results on a preliminary sampling of sales reported by about 500 merchants in all categories.``Several factors, including a growing consumer emphasis on value, the great variety and large selection of brand-name merchandise available and an additional shopping day, helped achieve these increases,'' said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and chief operating officer for the real estate investment trust.

Stronger-than-anticipat- ed consumer spending drove December holiday sales above expectations for many of the nation's retailers, though shifts in shopping patterns led to clear winners and losers for the month.Discounters, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and specialty stores, such as AnnTaylor Stores Corp., posted even stronger gains than expected, while more moderately priced department store chains J. C. Penney Co. and Sears, Roebuck and Co. struggled, according to sales figures released yesterday by major retailers.

Consumers spent cautiously during the first two weeks of the traditional holiday shopping season, dampening the high expectations many retailers had for the crucial selling period.A little more than a week before Christmas, analysts are projecting moderate sales growth overall, in the 3.5 percent range. Department stores and shops catering to the middle-market consumer appear to be lagging while mass discounters and upscale retailers are likely to post the strongest sales, analysts said."Everyone was so optimistic coming in, I think disappointment will travel close behind," said Skip Briggs, president of Severna Park consulting firm Skip Briggs Growth Strategies.

WASHINGTON -- Inventories of goods at U.S. wholesalers unexpectedly dropped in September as climbing sales helped clear warehouses, government figures showed yesterday.Wholesale inventories fell 1.3 percent during the month, helped by a large decline in inventories of nondurable goods such as drugs, apparel and raw farm products. In August, inventories dropped a revised 0.1 percent, previously reported as a 0.5 percent gain.September's dip in wholesale inventories hints that many retailers are stocking up ahead of the busiest selling time of the holiday season.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's retailers may have come up short in meeting their modest sales targets in the final stretch of the Christmas shopping rush.Retail sales last week rose 1.3 percent from a week earlier, below expectations, according to a sales report yesterday from the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi/Schroder Wertheim. "The momentum out there has slowed," said John Harris, an analyst at Schroder Wertheim in New York.A big question is whether sales perked up in the final three days before Christmas, which represent 20 percent of December's business, Harris said.

SEATTLE -- Nordstrom Inc. shares fell 3 percent after the retailer's report late Friday that its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than expected because of slow sales during the holiday season.The shares fell $1.125 to $36.375 after trading 2.06 million, almost four times the three-month daily average of 551,000. Earlier, they traded as low as $34.25, a 52-week low.The department store chain said sales at stores open at least a year declined moderately during the holiday from a year ago. It attributed the drop to a shopping season that had five fewer days than last year.

NEW YORK -- Retail sales picked up during the final weekend before Christmas, though they didn't reach the stampede levels hoped for by most shopkeepers, analysts and retailers said yesterday.The strong-but-not spectacular sales put many retailers on track to meet forecasts for gains of 4 percent to 5 percent for the holiday season. Still, strong sales yesterday and today -- the last two days of the season -- are crucial for some chains to meet those expectations."A lot of retailers expected an extraordinary burst of sales because there are five fewer shopping days, but it didn't happen," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Marketing Report.

Something is amiss when the reindeer decorations trot out before the turkey signs.Retailers, preparing earlier and earlier every year for the holidays, are bracing for an uncertain Christmas selling season, the most crucial time of year to move merchandise and make a profit.The early indications, according to analysts, point to ho-hum holiday results."Santa's sleigh will be a little lighter this year," said retail analyst Kenneth M. Gassman Jr., who is forecasting a modest increase -- 3 to 4.5 percent -- in holiday sales over last year, when factoring in inflation.

FDIC expected to require banks to prepay insurance fund fees WASHINGTON - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. may take the unprecedented step of ordering banks to prepay about $36 billion in premiums to shore up the shrinking deposit insurance fund. The FDIC board likely will call for "prepaid" bank insurance premiums at its meeting Tuesday, three industry executives and a government official said. The banking industry prefers that option over a special emergency fee - which would be the second this year.

Retailers slashed prices the day after Christmas as much as 60 to 80 percent and extended hours to attract customers, but it appears their efforts will not be enough to salvage a dismal holiday shopping season. Early figures indicated a drop of as much as 8 percent in holiday spending this year, and retail observers reported lackluster crowds yesterday at malls and big box stores nationwide. "Everybody was saying it's going to be the second Black Friday," said Shavoune Desper of Laurel, who was shopping at Arundel Mills mall with her aunt Yolanda Townsend and several nieces and nephews.

At Hampden's trendy Double Dutch clothing boutique, shoppers are buying more from the sale rack and making fewer impulse purchases. At Chesapeake Wine Co. in Canton, they're choosing cheaper bottles of wine. And at the Cupcake clothing boutique in Fells Point, the owners are ordering less inventory and subleasing some space to offset what they expect to be flat sales this year. "People are very scared," Emily Levitas, owner of Gotta Have Bags in Hampden, said about shoppers. As the national economic uncertainty leads customers to curb spending, retailers are facing the worst economic climate in years - and a gloomy forecast for the holiday season.

American consumers, uneasy about the economy and unimpressed by the merchandise in stores, delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected, if not feared, according to one early but influential projection. Spending from Thanksgiving to Christmas rose just 3.6 percent over last year, the weakest performance in at least four years, according to MasterCard Advisors, a division of the credit card company. "There was not a recipe for a pickup in sales growth," said Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors, citing higher gas prices, a slowing housing market and a tight credit market.

Last year Nick Gill got what he thought were unstylish holiday gifts, so this year his Christmas list was short and simple: gift cards and cash, please. Gill's request was granted to the tune of $700 in cash and gift cards, and yesterday the 20-year-old college student from Parkville spent the morning with his brother and a neighborhood friend at Towson Town Center shopping. "Last year it just didn't work out with the clothes they were getting me," Gill said, as he toted bags from Pacific Sun and other stores.

For five days this week you can refuse to pay your taxes and not be considered a cheat. The state is lifting its 5 percent sales tax on certain clothing and shoes from Wednesday through the weekend. The brief tax holiday covers items such as coats, belts, pants, shoes and sweaters that cost less than $100. Accessories such as ties, handbags and jewelry aren't included. State officials say the promotion benefits consumers and retailers. Consumers get a needed discount during the busy back-to-school shopping period and retailers see a boost in traffic.

In a holiday sales season that generally was considered tepid, one retail sector banked on the "cool factor" to ring up sizzling sales. Offering ripped jeans and T-shirts with saucy marketing techniques that appeal to teens and the college crowd, stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle outfitters and Aeropostale easily outdistanced the classic stores and discounters. WINNERS -- UP .............................................. LOSERS -- DOWN Abercrombie & Fitch +29% .......

After spending the holiday season buying gifts for others, Vera Dillard plans to indulge today in some shopping for herself. She'll buy some suits to wear to church using a Hecht's gift card she received from co-workers. Then she'll stock up on bargain-priced Christmas items, such as cards from Hallmark, to use next year. "It will be all for me," the federal government worker from Owings Mills said with a smile, as she finished her Christmas shopping at Owings Mills Mall last week. "As soon as you look, all the summer stuff will be out, and they'll be trying to get rid of the winter things.

CHICAGO - Retailers turned in an uneven December, with warehouse clubs and luxury chains posting impressive gains but department stores and discount merchants showing signs of wear. Sales at chain stores open at least a year rose 2.7 percent in December, according to a tally of 77 retailers by the International Council of Shopping Centers. That performance fell short of the 3.5 percent to 4 percent sales gain that the trade group predicted. Still, results at individual retailers varied wildly.

Two big discount chains posted holiday sales numbers yesterday that pleasantly surprised Wall Street, raising hopes that the 2004 Christmas shopping season will end up being a respectable one for merchants. Helped by after-Christmas shoppers with gift cards in hand and willing to spend more money in its stores, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said sales at locations open at least a year would be up 3 percent in December. Last week, the world's biggest retailer said it was looking for a 2 percent gain in same-store sales.