Bleak shopper interest in New York City
Leading up to Christmas, I was in the traditional hotbed of Holiday Retailing - New York City. I was curious as to the mood this year, having experienced the City in some frantic shopping times.
By all accounts, it was bleak. Many locals are fearful of cancelled bonuses if not outright job loss. No matter what retailers were doing to discount, consumers seemed little inclined to shop.
Taken December 23rd, the pictures of Macy's to t
he right suggest great crowds and enthusiastic sales. However, this department store is one of the prime Holiday shopping destinations in North America, a traditional favourite of locals and tourists alike. Even with its value-focus appeal, staff told me this traffic was barely more than half of what they would normally expect.
Higher-end Bloomingdales had much less traffic and featured many 50% discount racks. And business was significantly down at the fabulous Holiday Market at Union Square, with unique vendors from all over the world.
New York seems a tale of two Cities playing out across the US: big value-based retailers generating mediocre traffic but at deep discounting (Wal-mart and Costco excepted); independents and others experiencing even weaker sales all around. Data emerging for the last few weeks suggests US retail sales were down a staggering 4%-8% from last year's lacklustre season.
Underscoring the significance, US-retailers were talking up the idea of having Boxing Day sales - a day not previously part of the American culture.
