Retailers report slow holiday sales

Retailers reported deep declines in their December sales Thursday, reflecting a 2007 holiday shopping season that is turning out to be one of the weakest in years.

‘These numbers are bad because consumers are clearly seeing some pain here,’ said Ken Perkins, president of sales tracker Retail Metrics

According to Perkins, the holiday season started off strong as shoppers lapped up juicy discounts on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which traditionally marks the start of the November-December gift-buying marathon which can account for as much as half of retailers’ annual profits and sales.

‘But then there was a three-week lull after that. The early shopping momentum didn’t carry through the rest of the holiday season,’ said Perkins.

Perkins, who tracks same-store sales at 43 retail chains, said combined November-December sales rose 1.7 percent, their weakest gain since 2002.

In the overall retail sector, Thomson Financial, which also compares monthly results at 43 of the nation’s largest retail chains based on analyst estimates, said total December same-store sales rose just 0.5 percent compared to its revised estimate for a 0.7 percent gain. That’s much weaker than the 3.3 percent gain for the same period in 2006.

The firm said 27 retailers missed their December sales estimate, 14 beat and 2 retailers met forecasts.