HOLIDAY SHOPPING Retailers will be forced to cut prices, analysts say

The lack of 'must-have' products will benefit consumers.
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
MILWAUKEE -- The Christmas of 2003 is likely to go down in the record books as a non-event, hot item-wise.
No frantic searches for Tickle Me Elmo. No Furby riots.
But while retail watchers are wringing their hands at the lack of a hot seller, shoppers will likely be applauding because the experts are also predicting great deals for consumers this year. The lack of a few sought-after gifts this season is going to generate major price competition in both toys and electronics this season, analysts say.
"There are so many choices for kids," said Malachy Kavanagh, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Toysellers started cutting prices in the weeks before Thanksgiving, Kavanagh said, with Wal-Mart, Target and Toys 'R Us fighting for a share of consumers holiday budgets.
Sales gain is predicted
Analysts for Ernst & amp; Young list the lack of "must-have" products this year as one of the negatives for retailers in what is expected to be a good selling season. Various economists have predicted a gain in retail sales this season of 5 percent to 6 percent.
But two new surveys conducted last week, from the Conference Board and the Consumer Federation of America, say holiday gift spending may not match last year's levels.
The lack of new products hasn't stopped retail groups from putting out lists of hot items for the season. The trend in toys this year is retro, according to the shopping center group ICSC.
Toys from the '80s will be big because young parents want to remember their own childhoods, Kavanagh explained.