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 NEW YORK (AP) - October's retail sales results, the best performance since April 2008, show that Americans are spending a little more. But will they be willing to pay full price this holiday season?
Stores are heading into the period with slashed inventories, determined not to have the fire sales that characterized last Christmas. But shoppers are still facing tight credit and a weak job market and might wait for fat discounts or not buy at all. That game of chicken will determine the holiday winners and losers.
"Shoppers are still being cautious, but we are seeing some signs of recovery in the economy," said Carl Steidtmann, an economist at Deloitte Research, who forecasts holiday sales will be unchanged from a year ago.
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