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A VERY GRINCHY CHRISTMAS….There’s just no way to sugar coat this. Retail sales fell off a cliff this year:
When gasoline sales are excluded, [retail sales fell] 4% in December…. The holiday retail-sales decline was much worse than the already-dire picture painted by industry forecasts, which had predicted sales ranging from a 1% drop to a more optimistic increase of 2.2%.
….A final burst of spending retailers hoped for last weekend never came. Shopper traffic fell 27% compared with the same time last year, while sales declined 5.3%, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales in retail outlets nationwide.
Christmas this year was pretty grim in China too. And they’re expecting worse next year.
