Shoppers Stream to Malls Despite Impeachment Vote
The impeachment of President Clinton didn’t deter most Americans from packing stores in Southern California and across the nation during the weekend as shoppers tried to wrap up their holiday gift buying.
Retailers sought to recoup what was left of a slower-than-expected peak season by slashing prices, and the teasers seemed to work. From the Glendale Galleria to Moreno Valley Mall to San Diego’s Horton Plaza, mall managers reported full parking lots, jammed stores and jangling cash registers.
“We are very, very busy today,” Leslie Harris, spokeswoman for the 15 Nordstrom department stores in Southern California, said Sunday. She added that her chain enjoyed a burst of “last-minute shoppers” who told store officials they had left the bulk of their gift buying until the weekend.
Sales of steeply discounted clothing, as well as perfume, candles, computers and other high-end items, led the favored categories. Price-cutting by department stores has helped make men’s and women’s apparel the leading merchandise categories at the 250-store Glendale Galleria this year, spokeswoman Annette Bethers said Sunday.
Although many retailers relished the heavy traffic, some experts still worried about whether the burst of last-minute purchases would be enough to jolt U.S. holiday sales to levels they had anticipated.
“Shoppers weren’t distracted at all by the impeachment,” said Kurt Barnard, a retail consultant and president of Barnard’s Retail Trend Report in Upper Montclair, N.J. “But, can this weekend and the next few days make up for lost time and sales from the past few weeks? That is doubtful.”
Many expected this to be one of the best holiday seasons in recent history, thanks to strong consumer confidence, low levels of unemployment and inflation and sharp investment gains on Wall Street.
But holiday sales lagged forecasts until this weekend, as unusually warm weather hurt sales of cold-weather clothes, particularly in the Midwest and East. Shoppers also waited for price cuts and to buy gifts closer to the holiday as in past years. Initially strong sales volume has tapered off somewhat since Thanksgiving.
“The warm weather has been death,” said Ed Carroll, executive vice president of marketing for Carson Pirie Scott, a Midwest department store chain.
Knowing that the last week of the season is so crucial, most retailers have stepped up their promotions. The biggest markdowns are cold weather apparel, with merchants desperate to unload some of the clothes that have sat on shelves for weeks during the recent warm spell around the nation.
During the weekend, Macy’s advertised 25% to 40% discounts on men’s sweaters at its Southern California stores and Robinson’s-May slashed half off its women’s sweaters and men’s jackets.
The cheaper prices encouraged Toni Miller, a mother of two from the Seattle area, to get some buying done. In Chicago, Karen Welsh was shocked by the low prices she found throughout the Water Tower mall.
“I go for sales,” said Ruth Thompson, who was shopping with her husband at the Castleton Square Mall in Indianapolis. “That’s the only way we can afford it.”
Merchandisers were looking for a big sales bounce this week since the three biggest shopping days of 1997 were Dec. 20, Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group. The Saturday before Christmas is often the biggest shopping day of the year.
But many buyers seem to be holding off still. Julie Kang-Kim, 39, of Los Angeles waited until just six days left before Christmas to do her shopping. And she said she won’t start in earnest until Christmas Eve.
“They always cut prices the closer Christmas gets; they get desperate,” she said, adding that she loves to buy herself clothes on the day after Christmas, when department stores have the best prices.
Disappointing mall sales could also be explained by an increasing number of consumers who do a large part of holiday shopping online, avoiding the middleman--and the crowds. Internet holiday sales are forecast to triple this year to about $2.5 billion, according to market research firm Yankee Group.
In any case, some retail experts lowered their sales forecasts two weeks ago because of the season’s slow start. Consultant Barnard dropped his estimate to a same-store sales gain of 3% to 4%, from as much as 5%. Barnard on Sunday said sales could come in at the high end of that range. Last year, the post-holiday sales saved many retailers from reporting disappointing results for the season.
* WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY
Web portals create a potentially formidable rival business model to branded online retailers. C6
