- CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S.
retailers likely came up short in the biggest shopping weekend of the year,
as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said a last-minute
pick-up in holiday sales was not enough to make up for a sluggish start
to December.
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- Analysts on Monday said they saw little reason to change
their assessment of the holiday shopping season, which has not delivered
on expectations for a strong rebound from last year's disappointing performance.
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- Target Corp. (TGT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the
second-largest U.S. discount chain, will give its weekly update after the
U.S. stock market closes on Monday, which should give investors a broader
indication of retail sales trends.
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- Analysts said anecdotal reports suggested weekend sales
were good, but not great, across the sector. The Saturday before Christmas
is usually the busiest shopping day of the year for retailers.
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- Retailers finally got a snowstorm-free weekend after
back-to-back weekend white-outs in parts of the U.S. Northeast, but the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised its color-coded terror alert
level to orange on Sunday, its second-highest level, warning of a high
risk of attack.
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- That may have kept some shoppers away from major malls.
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- Chains were banking on a strong weekend to salvage the
season, and rolled out another round of steep discounts in hopes of luring
last-minute shoppers.
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- Wall Street had hoped that an improving job market and
strengthening consumer sentiment would drive increased spending, but so
far only the luxury retailers have seen a dramatic improvement in demand,
analysts said.
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- "It's probably not going to be as good as we earlier
expected, but certainly a lot better than last year," said James Luke,
portfolio manager with BB&T Asset Management whose holdings include
Wal-Mart shares.
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- "I'm wondering how much effect this 'orange alert'
will have on the final couple of days," he said.
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- Wal-Mart, the world's biggest company and a barometer
of U.S. consumer spending, said it still expects December sales at its
U.S. stores open at least a year to reach only the lower end of its forecast
for 3 percent to 5 percent gain.
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- "Although we are not up to our original plan, progress
was made over the recent weekend," Wal-Mart said on a recorded message.
The retailer said it would provide a post-Christmas update on Friday instead
of next Monday as usual.
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- For the second week in a row, Wal-Mart said fewer people
shopped at its stores, although they spent more on average. The best-selling
categories last week included pharmacy, electronics, toys, girls' clothing,
outerwear and pet supplies. © Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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