Shoppers rush to stores before Christmas

Jerry Storch, chairman and CEO of Toys "R" Us Inc., said the past weekend was strong, and that people were buying "everything," from video-game software to games. He noted that shipments of Wii are selling out as fast as Toys "R" Us gets them, while the retailer is running out of Fisher-Price's Smart Cycle, a stationary bike that plugs into the TV. The season's hot video game, "Guitar Hero 3," is also hard to find.

Karen MacDonald, spokeswoman at mall operator Taubman Center Inc., noted that on Saturday business was up in the mid-single digits based on a spot-check of malls. Gift card sales are up in the double digits, and "more men are out buying fragrance gift sets and jewelry," she said.

Ken Gillette, senior vice president of operations at Macerich, noted that the weekend was "very busy," with traffic on Saturday up 20 percent from the previous Saturday. He said while the day after Black Friday starts off the season, the most intense sales volume comes in the few days before Christmas.

Still, overall holiday sales gains could come at a cost for retailers, says Sherif Mityas, partner and central region leader at consultancy A.T. Kearney, noting that stores discounted heavily at the expense of margins. He believes that apparel merchants will see their fourth-quarter profits most hurt.

For many shoppers, it paid to wait given the plentiful offerings and good deals. The Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. was offering three graphic T-shirts for a total of $20. Pier 1 Imports Inc., which has been hit hard along with other home furnishings stores by the housing slump, was offering 50 percent discounts on candle gift sets and 35 percent price cuts on holiday potpourri.

"I got very good deals," said Nichelle Jones, of Chicago who had purchased two shirts at Lady Foot Locker, owned by Foot Locker Inc., winter boots and an iPod at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Edison Alberto of Miami Beach, Fla., got all of his shopping done in about an hour and a half on Friday night. He had about a dozen gifts to buy and found them all at a mall near Miami. His best deals, he said, were sneakers he bought for two cousins at Champs Sports.

"I thought they were going to be $80 or up," he said. "They were $55 each."

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