Unimpressive weekend has retailers nervous

Plenty of retailers are getting anxious, offering last-minute enticements to spur sales. Toy seller FAO Schwarz added a free standard shipping and 25 percent discount offer on all goods ordered at fao.com through Tuesday. Others resorted to even more desperate means. On Saturday, a sales clerk outside a midtown Manhattan location of Lane Bryant, a large-size clothing chain, was seen blasting “40 percent discounts” using a bull horn.

Store executives say consumers are even more savvy about buying this season, doing a lot of their homework before they grab deals. This year, the economy, particularly the housing crisis, has hurt shoppers’ spending.

“I got laid off from my job in the mortgage industry,” said Janina Kosloski of Orange County, Calif., who was visiting relatives in Minnesota. “Right now, I’m basically scared of losing my house.”

That’s forced her to cut her holiday spending by half as she scours for bargains. She noted that she recently bought “Sopranos” DVDs at deepdiscount.com, at a price much cheaper than other outlets.

FAO Schwarz CEO Ed Schmults said it was too early to tell how shoppers responded to his company’s last-minute free shipping offer but added, “We are still looking at next weekend to be a big weekend.”

He noted that this past weekend, the toy retailer, which operates stores in Manhattan and Las Vegas and a shop at Macy’s in Chicago, had solid sales on the Internet but weaker sales in Las Vegas and New York, though business was strong at its Macy’s outpost.

Toys “R” Us Chairman and CEO Jerry Storch said business was “satisfactory” this past weekend, and he is clearly seeing “steady increases in business.” Only a handful of its stores had to close early because of the winter storm, he said.

Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman at Taubman Inc., which operates 24 malls in 11 states, said that based on a spot-check of malls, stores reported business that ranged from unchanged to an increase of low single digits for the past week compared with the same period a year ago. For the weekend, business was up low to mid single digits versus a year ago. Among the hot sellers are UGG boots and gift cards, she said.

Tina McCuddin, vice president of marketing of Macerich Co., which operates 73 malls in 18 states, reported that the latest weekend’s business was level with the prior weekend. She added that sales this weekend were hurt in part by the storm, but generally shoppers are taking their time.

“We have had a couple of quieter weeks since Black Friday,” she said.

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