what happened to that "bustling" economy I keep hearing about?

Retailers count on post-Christmas sales

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_bi_ge/holiday_shopping

Bargain hunters and latecomers flocked to stores this weekend as the retail industry made its last big push for pre-Christmas sales with increased discounts and other come-ons.

But the late-buying binge was not enough to meet sales goals, and retailers are now turning to post-Christmas business to make this season a merry one, according to one report from a national research company.

"These were big days, but they came up short in terms of traffic and sales," said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a research firm, referring to this past Friday and Saturday. ShopperTrak monitors total retail sales at more than 45,000 outlets.

After a stronger-than-expected turnout on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, stores struggled through the first two weeks of December as consumers shopped at a disappointing pace.

This year, it has been mild. 55° today.

Peace to you, Cat...I was just being snarky...

:hi:

:hi: Will this be the time for the "turn." We have to hope....long time we've been here....we gotta hope.

I'm gonna be SO there...it freezes well and every household should have emergency chocolate. :P

not only are retail sales slow, but routine visits to the doctor are way down. I've a friend who is an opthamologist, and she usually gets a spike in visits between Christmas and New Years, as that's vacation time for kids and also for many adults. She still has open slots on her appointment book, the first time that's happened.