Wal-Mart leads pack in post-holiday sales

NEW YORK — The official holiday shopping season appears to have gotten off to a lukewarm start, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that monitors retail sales. Wal-Mart was one bright spot in the crowd, reporting its sales exceeded expectations.

According to ShopperTrak RCT, which tracks sales at more than 45,000 retail outlets, the overall sales on Friday were relatively unchanged compared with a year ago, despite heavier discounting and expanded hours.

The Chicago-based research group reported total sales Friday at $8 billion, down 0.9 percent from a year ago.

"With heavy discounting by nonmall retailers combined with the extended shopping season in 2005, consumers may not feel the pressure to shop early this holiday season," ShopperTrak said in a statement.

But "this may be misleading as we're comparing this to a very strong 2004 performance," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for the International Council of Shopping Centers, in a statement.

He added that while the day after Thanksgiving Day is important to merchants, it's not always the best indicator of consumer shopping patterns for the remainder of the season.

While it is still a big weekend for retailers, consumers are increasingly waiting until the last minute to shop, so the Saturday before Christmas has become the busiest shopping day in recent years.

The November-December holiday season typically accounts for about one-fourth of annual retail sales.

In 2004, the Friday after Thanksgiving was the second busiest day of the holiday shopping season, according to ShopperTrak; the busiest day was the Saturday before Christmas.

Retailers plied shoppers Friday with heavier discounting and earlier openings than a year ago.

Several major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Sears and Macy's, as well as mall operator Taubman Centers, estimated they drew bigger crowds for the official holiday season launch compared with last year. Lena Michaud, a spokeswoman at Target, which had a strong holiday season a year ago, said traffic was at least as heavy.

Consumer electronics were the main attraction nationwide, but apparel also fared well, helped by the arrival of frigid weather in many parts of the country, said Marshal Cohen of NPD Group, a market-research firm.

Wal-Mart said Saturday that it expects to post a 4.3 percent gain in same-store sales for November, helped by better-than-expected sales Friday. After stumbling last holiday season by not offering enough discounts, Wal-Mart made an aggressive push to win over shoppers early this season. It launched a holiday ad campaign on Nov. 1, a few weeks earlier than a year ago.