Retailers like a little snowfall to get people in the holiday spirit, but stores in the U.S. Northeast got too much of good thing this past weekend, as a winter storm kept shoppers at home.
Retail sales during the week ended Saturday fell by 3.3 percent from the same week a year earlier, according to sales tracking firm ShopperTrak.
With two more weekends remaining until Christmas, retailers still hope to recover lost business by the end of the all-important holiday season.
"Traffic was just slow because you can't really drive, even now," said Anne-Marie Kline, a spokeswoman for Canton, Massachusetts-based electronics retailer Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc..
Each Saturday in December normally ranks among the 10 biggest sales days of the year.
"But we hope to make up the sales for December, because Christmas is still going to happen," Kline said.
The Northeast is a key market, with about 25 percent of consumers, according to the National Retail Federation.
The region's first major winter storm set records in some areas, packing high winds and snowfall of up to an inch an hour. Airports were closed and thousands were without power.
"But there were many shoppers throughout the country that were able to hit the stores and many of them chose to do that," said Ellen Tolley, NRF spokeswoman.
Escape from the zoo
"We went to Michael's to buy Christmas decorations. There were no lines and it was very quiet. My wife had gone earlier in the week and it was a zoo," said Ed Moore, a human resources officer from Pennington, New Jersey.
The Moores also found a Target store nearly deserted early Saturday evening, when they ventured out.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. maintained its same-store sales growth target of 3 percent to 5 percent for the month, as it said the storm did not close any of its stores, and seasonal items -- snow shovels, blowers and salt -- sold well.
Taubman Centers Inc.'s upscale mall in Short Hills, New Jersey closed early Friday and Saturday. Another four of the company's 31 shopping centers were affected, as some stores had to close due to inadequate staffing.
"Business for those centers was brisk until Friday evening and again on Saturday afternoon. Whenever snow subsided, people came out," said Taubman spokeswoman Karen MacDonald.
"Assuming shoppers are able to make it to the mall, the colder weather should boost sales of sweaters and outerwear," retail analyst Kimberly Greenberger said in a Lehman Brothers research note.
JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., a men's clothing retailer with a significant store base in the Northeast, closed several stores during the storm. However, same-store sales for the first eight days of the fiscal month have been above expectations, it said Monday.
"While the timing is not good, this is a big plus for the apparel retailers, because it creates a need," said Jim Gagne, senior vice president of Planalytics, a firm that consults retailers on weather issues.
"This is when you realize, 'Hey these gloves have a hole in them,' 'Where's that hat I wore last year?' 'This coat isn't fashionable anymore.' And usually the most expensive items in the apparel category are the winter merchandise. That's all good news," Gagne said.