Retailers Face an Ominous Holiday Sign
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Sales of womenâs clothing, a traditional pillar of the holiday shopping season, are unusually weak so far this year, according to a major credit card company.
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With just two weeks to go until Christmas the nation's retailers should be getting worried that consumers have been slow to rev up the pace of their holiday shopping, industry experts said Monday.
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With Wall Street itching for an end-of-the-year surge but still somewhat nervous about consumer spending, Americans' shopping patterns in the last hours before Christmas could make or break a "Santa Claus rally."
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Many U.S. retailers are expected to report disappointing December sales later this week, hurt by everything from the challenging economy to unfavorable weather to the calendar, which shifted more holiday sales to November.
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Retailers hope a surge of customers this weekend will kick off a strong final week in a holiday selling season that&#39;s been lackluster to this point.
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Rising energy prices and slow job growth make buyers cautious as the nation heads into the holiday season.
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With the countdown for compliance with radio-frequency identification mandates from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and others&#39; closing in, concern is growing that supplies of the necessary
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UK clothing retailers Next and French Connection warn of tough times ahead on the High Street.
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Crumbling consumer confidence and slumping home sales could prove to be a bad combination for retailers, and for the broader economy going into the holiday shopping season, if the labor market contracts further and chokes off spending, economic data showed Tuesday.
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The holiday season always turns the spotlight on retailers and the glare could prove too much for some merchants already under close scrutiny, industry analysts said.
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With just hours to go before Christmas, the nation&#39;s retailers hoped a last-minute flurry of holiday shoppers, whether delayed by winter storms or by simple procrastination, would be enough
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To most weary shoppers, it&#39;s known as Black Friday, the semiofficial start of the holiday retail season. But to hundreds of regional residents and countless others worldwide
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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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Shoppers &#151; some holding out for the best bargains, others delayed by winter storms in the Midwest &#151; hit the nation's malls and stores, looking for last-minute gifts and snapping up gift cards on Friday, the day before Christmas.
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Festive shopping will not pick up until the last two weeks before Christmas,  the British Retail Consortium warns.
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LOS ANGELES - Toy makers and major retailers are bracing for potentially weak Christmas sales this year amid concerns that consumers, many squeezed by skyrocketing gas prices or uneasiness over the economy, will spend less on holiday shopping.    On Monday, No...
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This holiday, toys are popping up in the most unexpected places: gas stations, auto-parts chains, home and garden stores.