Bah Humbug To Retail Sales

Deflation: why buy now when you can buy later at a cheaper cost? Not really a big story on CNBC or the MSM, the cheaper prices arer good for consumers, but not so great for earnings. I wonder why it's a buried story? *wink*

Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.

Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts, total retail sales, excluding automobiles, fell over the year-earlier period by 5.5% in November and 8% in December through Christmas Eve, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit.

[C]onsidering individual sectors, "This will go down as the one of the worst holiday sales seasons on record," said Mary Delk, a director in the retail practice at consulting firm Deloitte LLP. 

"Retailers went from 'Ho-ho' to 'Uh-oh' to 'Oh-no.'"

Will be interesting to see the retail landscape in March and April. Lots of lay-offs and store closings.



Source: WSJ