WASHINGTON — Consumers say they will spend an average of $1,047.83 this holiday season, up 4% from the $1,007.24 they said they would spend last year, according to the annual survey released Thursday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Shoppers between the ages of 35 and 44 plan to spend the
NEW YORK — Holiday sales at drug chains edged up slightly versus a year ago, as uncertainty over the economy left consumers wary of boosting their spending. Another crimp on sales growth was deep discounts. While retailers trimmed inventory for the holiday season to avoid having to clear out overstocks with price cuts, consumers were
NEW YORK — Holiday sales at drug chains edged up slightly versus a year ago, as uncertainty over the economy left consumers wary of boosting their spending. Another crimp on sales growth was deep discounts. While retailers trimmed inventory for the holiday season to avoid having to clear out overstocks with price cuts, consumers were
NEW YORK — Pervasive optimism over the economy and strong early online sales signaled a robust holiday shopping season. Economic growth, a lack of inflation, rising wages and low unemployment have buoyed consumers and augured a willingness to spend significantly through December. And while many shoppers are favoring online purchases, the general enthusiasm was also
NEW YORK — Drug chains were not immune to the shift in holiday shopping away from brick-and-mortar retailing. Holiday retail sales growth barely exceeded 4%, down from last season’s 4.4% advance and well off the 5.4% gain of five years ago, according to research by Racher Press, the publisher of Chain Drug Review. Same-store sales
NEW YORK — A late shopping rush on the weekend before Christmas helped put some twinkle in holiday retail sales, but the final results for the season seemed to fall short of the optimistic projections retailers had set back in early November. Drug chains, however, may have fared slightly better during the holidays than the
