Consumers spent at least 20 percent less on women's clothing, electronics and jewelry during November and December, resulting in what may be the biggest holiday-shopping sales decline in four decades, Bloomberg reported.
"It's been difficult, much more difficult than anyone expected," Gilbert Harrison, chairman and chief executive officer of retail advisory firm Financo Inc., said today in a Bloomberg Television interview from West Palm Beach, Florida. Consumers "will spend on necessities, they'll spend on what they need, but they're being very particular in what they'll buy."
Discounts of 70 percent off or more by Macy's Inc., AnnTaylor Stores Inc. and other retailers failed to prevent a spending drop of as much as 4 percent during the final two months of the year, according to data from SpendingPulse. Including fuel, sales tumbled as much as 8 percent.
More than a dozen retailers, including Circuit City Stores Inc., have sought bankruptcy protection this year as the credit squeeze and the U.S. recession dried up funding. The holiday results indicate further filings are possible, along with consolidation among similar companies, said Harrison.
The decline is the worst since MasterCard Advisors started tracking data in 2002 to provide the SpendingPulse service, said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis, in an interview yesterday. He estimates sales, excluding autos and gasoline, fell 2 percent to 4 percent from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24.