A Lackluster Last Weekend
By Ann Zimmerman, Stephanie Kang and Gary McWilliams
Word Count: 1,051 | Companies Featured in This Article: Best Buy, Tiffany, Wal-Mart Stores, J.C. Penney
Retailers worried about a steep slowdown in the first three weeks of December got some relief in the final days before Christmas, but last-minute shoppers and heavy discounting failed to deliver as strong a finale as retailers had hoped, according to one early projection.
Holiday spending between Thanksgiving and Christmas rose a disappointing 6.6% over last year, according to SpendingPulse, a retail-sales data service from MasterCard International's MasterCard Advisors Unit. Last holiday, sales climbed 8.7%. "People were expecting a lot more momentum," said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors. "Retail sales are growing, but at ...http://online.wsj.com/google_login.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB116710056784559386.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj |
