Procrastinators give needed lift to holiday sales
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The holiday shopping season ended better than it started, and most retailers are on track to meet humble sales goals, though many still hope for an extra boost this week as consumers cash in gift cards.
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U.S. specialty apparel retailers saw  sales rise 3.6 percent in holiday shopping, at the lower-end of  expectations, according to data released on Tuesday by  SpendingPulse.
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With Christmas a little more than a week away, many stores are finding themselves in the same predicament as in recent years: waiting for those last-minute shoppers who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.
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Just weeks ago, the holiday shopping season seemed headed for disaster. But in the waning hours before Christmas, the nation's retailers got their wish Â a last-minute surge of shopping that helped meet their modest sales goals, according to data released late Monday by research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp.
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As post-Christmas retail results began trickling in yesterday, this much became clear about the 2004 holiday shopping season: Consumers procrastinated; they gobbled up gift cards; they defected, in greater numbers, from stores to the Web; and, overall, they appeared to spend more this year than last.
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Last-minute shoppers may have helped retailers save a holiday shopping season that got off to a sluggish start, pouring into stores the week before Christmas and continuing their buying frenzy the day after the holiday.
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The nation's merchants remained on edge as procrastinators prepared to head to malls and stores on the day before Christmas to pick up those last-minute gifts and snap up gift cards.
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Overindulge this holiday season? To make up for it, many people will shop for high-tech treadmills or mail-order machines that will shrink their thighs while they make low, low monthly payments.
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There are those who finish their holiday shopping by Thanksgiving. Then there are the rest of us. Here's a holiday gift guide for both planners and procrastinators.
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Holiday sales are expected to rise,  though at a slower rate than last year as consumers fret about  the declining housing market, according to a National Retail  Federation economic forecast on Tuesday.
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The holiday shopping season ended better than it started and most retailers are on track to meet humble sales goals, though many still hope for an extra boost the week after Christmas as consumers cash in gift cards.
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The holiday shopping season is ending on a better note than it began, and most retailers are on track to meet humble sales goals. Still, retailers hope for a boost the week after Christmas as consumers cash in gift cards.
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U.S. retailers were on track to post  solid -- but not spectacular -- sales this holiday after a  last-minute dash to stores saved Christmas, according to retail  indices on Tuesday.
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Bargain-seeking consumers headed into  stores for their last-minute Christmas shopping during the  "Super Saturday" weekend, to the relief of some worried  retailers, according to data released on Monday.
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With the 2007 run-up to Christmas boosted by a last-minute sales surge, retailers are putting an extra emphasis on after-Christmas discounts, hoping bargain shoppers and gift-card splurgers can enrich stores' holidays.
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NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Positive reports issued Monday by two retailing bellwethers -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. -- gave some hope that holiday-related selling may have picked up ahead of Christmas.
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Some surveys find that as of last weekend, consumers had completed less than 15 percent of their holiday shopping.