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Shoppers crowd into US malls but spirit of spending is missing
Source: Agencies |
December 25, 2012, Tuesday
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LAST-MINUTE shoppers crowded into US malls and stores to scoop up discounted clothing and toys during the last weekend before Christmas, but many didn't seem to be in the spending spirit.
This holiday season, Americans have a lot on their minds on top of the now familiar job worries.
The Northeast is still recovering from Superstorm Sandy. Shoppers are also increasingly worried about the possibility that a stalemate between Congress and the White House over the US budget could trigger a series of tax rises and spending cuts starting on January 1. Confidence among US consumers fell to its lowest point in December since July because of growing concerns about the economy, according to a monthly index.
And the recent Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting also dampened shoppers' spirits, analysts said.
This confluence of factors has led to a muted approach to holiday shopping - bad news for US retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December and were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season. The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after the late November's Thanksgiving holiday.
"It's so hard to put yourself in the mood," said Linda Fitzgerald, a 51-year-old nurse who was with her 17-month-old granddaughter at The Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey, on Saturday. She was out Christmas shopping for the first time this year.
She planned to spend US$1,500 on gifts such as clothes for her boyfriend, down dramatically from US$4,000 last year. She had expected to start shopping last weekend, but simply didn't feel like it, facing a sister's cancer diagnosis and worry about the economy and the Connecticut shooting.
Similarly, Deborah O'Conner, 51, had intentions of finishing her holiday shopping early, but Superstorm Sandy put a wrench in her plans. She spent all last month helping out her parents and her cousin, whose Long Island, New York, homes suffered damage
"I had planned to be out early but it didn't happen," said O'Conner, the mother of three children, ages 22, 19 and 15. "If it weren't for the storm, I would have been done."
This holiday season, Americans have a lot on their minds on top of the now familiar job worries.
The Northeast is still recovering from Superstorm Sandy. Shoppers are also increasingly worried about the possibility that a stalemate between Congress and the White House over the US budget could trigger a series of tax rises and spending cuts starting on January 1. Confidence among US consumers fell to its lowest point in December since July because of growing concerns about the economy, according to a monthly index.
And the recent Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting also dampened shoppers' spirits, analysts said.
This confluence of factors has led to a muted approach to holiday shopping - bad news for US retailers, which can make up to 40 percent of annual sales during November and December and were counting on the last weekend before Christmas to make up for lost dollars earlier in the season. The Saturday before Christmas was expected to be the second biggest sales day behind the Friday after the late November's Thanksgiving holiday.
"It's so hard to put yourself in the mood," said Linda Fitzgerald, a 51-year-old nurse who was with her 17-month-old granddaughter at The Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey, on Saturday. She was out Christmas shopping for the first time this year.
She planned to spend US$1,500 on gifts such as clothes for her boyfriend, down dramatically from US$4,000 last year. She had expected to start shopping last weekend, but simply didn't feel like it, facing a sister's cancer diagnosis and worry about the economy and the Connecticut shooting.
Similarly, Deborah O'Conner, 51, had intentions of finishing her holiday shopping early, but Superstorm Sandy put a wrench in her plans. She spent all last month helping out her parents and her cousin, whose Long Island, New York, homes suffered damage
"I had planned to be out early but it didn't happen," said O'Conner, the mother of three children, ages 22, 19 and 15. "If it weren't for the storm, I would have been done."
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