Sales give retailers hope for holidays - Stats in key categories show improvement

Sales give retailers hope for holidays - Stats in key categories show improvement
By Sandra M. Jones
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
11:20 a.m. CST, December 21, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon-spend-spending-pulse-122dec21,0,5992760.story


There is a glimmer of hope for holiday retail sales, according to a report out today.

Sales in a handful of key sectors have held steady or improved for the holiday season through mid-December, according to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse.

The categories posting increased sales for the period of Nov. 1 through Dec. 12 from the same period a year ago include electronics, at 4.4 percent; men's apparel, at 1.1 percent; footwear, at 1.3 percent; and jewelry, at 0.7 percent. The online sector, one of the stars of the holiday season, posted a 14.4 percent sales gain, the report said.

Among the laggards are women's apparel, down 3.0 percent, and the luxury sector excluding jewelry, down 4.2 percent.

The SpendingPulse indicator is based on sales activity in the MasterCard payments network coupled with survey-based estimates for other payment forms, including cash and checks.

"There is still a good deal of shopping to occur between now and Christmas," said Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for SpendingPulse, "but the early improvement in December has lifted the growth rates to positive territory for five of the 10 holiday-related sectors for the 2009 holiday season to date."

smjones@tribune.com