Post-Christmas shoppers hunt stores for bargains

Associated Press

Shoppers headed to America’s malls Saturday, many with gift cards in hand, hoping to snag after- Christmas discounts. They were greeted with big markdowns — in some cases topping 75 percent off — but often found limited selection.

“Everything’s been picked over,” said Donna Brown, a 52-year-old hairdresser from Seaford, Del., as she sorted through what was left of the fleece pajamas marked down 60 percent to $11.99 at a J.C. Penney store in Salisbury, Md.

Crowds were mixed during the kickoff of the week after Christmas, which last year accounted for nearly 15 percent of holiday retail sales.

This year, it could be more important because snowstorms that socked much of the country cut sales by 2.1 percent for the weekend before Christmas compared with the same weekend a year earlier, according to research firm ShopperTrak.

Retailers are counting on the days after Christmas to perk up overall holiday sales in a season that looks like it’s been only modestly better than last year’s disaster.

“Nothing was amazingly stellar,” NPD Group analyst Marshal Cohen said of the holiday season so far. “This is not going to go down as a Christmas for most people to really remember.”

Knowing holiday shoppers likely would spend less this year because of high unemployment, a move toward thrift and economic uncertainty, merchants carefully managed inventory for the season, buying less than a year ago when the economic meltdown surprised everyone and forced fire sales to get rid of excess goods.

That meant by Saturday, some store shelves were practically empty.

Many shoppers hunted for clearance Christmas items such as ornaments, decorations and glassware.

Kristie Dobbins, 31, stopped at the Wal-Mart store in Roeland Park, Kan., to buy holiday linens for next year. Along the way, she got a dog bed for her Alaskan malamute.

“Everything we bought was half off,” she said. “So it was worth the wait, and we will be ready for next year.”

But others simply couldn’t find what they were looking for or left empty-handed, hoping for better deals.

Weather also could complicate things, as a strong snowstorm swept across parts of the nation’s midsection and rain dampened the mid-Atlantic through New England, threatening to cause flooding. That kept some stores empty earlier in the day.

Walmart was offering half-off toys, and Toys “R” Us touted buy one, get one half-off offers. At Sears, customers could find coats for 70 percent off. And Gap Inc.’s Old Navy brand was selling men’s and women’s jeans for $15, and an e-mail encouraged shoppers to “redeem your gift cards today.”

Gift-card sales are not recorded as merchants’ revenues until shoppers redeem them.

But gift-card use appeared lighter at some locations Saturday, a potentially troubling sign because gift-card redeemers often spend more than the value of the card and often buy goods that aren’t on sale.