They have an excuse for everything, don't they?
This morning, Anne D'Innocenzio at the Associated Press actually told readers that this year's relatively warm Christmas season weather is what's hurting Christmas shopping season sales. It couldn't possibly be the "slowdown reality" USA Today cited in headlining Friday's second straight steep stock market drop, could it, Anne? Most other Americans participating in the real world have recognized the existence of a "slowdown reality" for at least the past few months.
In pursuit of her excuse, D'Innocenzio found someone who didn't want to head out to the malls because it's just too nice outside, and then tried to tell us that this behavior has been somewhat typical (original story, since updated, has been saved here for future reference, fair use and discussion purposes; bolds are mine):
WARM WEATHER LEAVES STORES IN THE COLD
The unseasonably warm weather has left some people feeling cold about holiday shopping.
Rosemarie Nowicki, who lives in Berkeley Heights, N.J., finally spent some of her holiday budget last weekend buying coats online for her family because she hated the thought of being stuck in a store with such mild temperatures outside.
"It's hard to get into the holiday spirit; I've been walking around in short-sleeve shirts and capri leggings," Nowicki says. "I was certainly not going to the mall."
Turns out, lots of shoppers feel the same way as temperatures in cities across the country, including New York and Philadelphia, near record levels for December. The balmy weather hasn't done anything to entice Americans to venture out and shop, which has hurt sales at stores that depend on the holiday season for up to 40 percent of their annual revenue.
Planalytics, a weather forecasting firm for retailers, estimates so far this season mall-based clothing stores have lost $343 million in sales compared with last year. That's the largest weather-related loss since 1998 when a devastating ice storm hit parts of the Northeast.
... The fair-weathered shopping challenge underscores how U.S. consumers, still affected by the Great Recession, remain strategic in their buying patterns. It's a habit they picked up during the economic downturn that's remained ever since.
Many shoppers only buy what they can wear, so it stands to reason that they're not buying coats, boots and hats this year. And since cold-weather items are also hot gifts during the holiday shopping season, many of those items are left on store shelves.
The irony of Planalytics comparing this year's "loss" to a year with genuinely awful winter weather was apparently lost on the AP's retail writer.
Maybe, just maybe — no, make that probably — this "strategic buying" behavior, which the press would likely consider alarming if it were occurring during a Republican or conservative presidential administration, is occurring because people don't have a lot of discretionary money to spend because of the pathetic economy of the past seven years. To the extent that people want to cut back on clothing, gambling on the coming winter months remaining mild, they should have more money to buy electronics, toys, jewelry, cloting accessories and the thousands of Star Wars knick-knacks hitting the shelves (my favorite — that's sarcasm — is the toaster that burns the Star Wars logo onto the victimized bread; it's a bargain at $50).
The National Retail Federation is keeping hope alive, but of course that's their job:
The National Retail Federation, nation's largest retail group, is sticking by its prediction earlier in the season that sales in November and December will rise 3.7 percent to $630.5 billion. Still, the unusually warm weather is a concern.
It's not AP's job to take the NRF at its word if there is contradictory information out there — and there is, which I'll identify in a separate post.
During the previous two years, business journalists blamed cold, wintry weather for poor first-quarter economies. Now they're blaming warm weather, because people would supposedly rather stay indoors than enjoy the relatively nice weather and see stores decked out in Christmas/holiday cheer. Sorry, Anne, that excuse, is really hard to take.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
