Late Shoppers Spread Some Holiday Cheer

Shoppers swarmed in a last-minute buying binge that will help most, but not all, retailers make the season’s sales projections. For the week ended Saturday sales rose 33% over a year ago and for the final weekend of the season were up 18.7%, reports the Los Angeles Times. Still, “a lot of retailers are going to be disappointed,” said one analyst.

Huge sales lured people into stores but procrastinating shoppers, hit with higher gas prices and worried about the economy, held growth down, perhaps lower than the 4% retailers hoped for. Target, hoping for a 3% to 5% rise in December same-store sales, may instead see a 1% drop. (More retail sales stories.)