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Some Quincy-area stores already reporting brisk sales in run up to holiday season

02.11.09

By STEVE EIGHINGER

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Halloween may have just ended and Thanksgiving remains weeks away, but for retailers it's already the Christmas shopping season.

"We usually look at Nov. 1 as the beginning of the holiday shopping season," said Vickie Marine, co-manager of the Walmart Supercenter in Quincy. "We're getting the Christmas displays up and a lot of the decorations."

Retailers nationwide are not expecting any miracles at the cash register. Overall, the retailing industry posted a sales decline of about 2 percent last Christmas season, its weakest performance since the late 1960s when the U.S. Commerce Department began tracking holiday sales figures.

Results for stores that sell clothing and luxury goods were worse, declining by double digits on the average. By contrast, several reports published in the last few days, including surveys by Nielsen and Deloitte, forecast no change in holiday sales from last year to this year. That translates into some optimism that the worst is over and this year will be the equivalent of simply riding out the storm.

Source: Quincy Herald Whig