Holiday sales exceed expectations

Aweek after Target solidly exceeded its December same-store sales guidance with a 1.8% gain, the National Retail Federation announced holiday season sales solidly exceeded its preseason estimate. NRF said holiday season (November to December) sales increased 1.1% to $446.8 billion and easily exceeded the organization’s preseason forecast, which called for a 1% decline. NRF chief economist Rosalind Wells said retailers did a tremendous job of planning for the holidays and the consumer appears to be spending again, but she cautioned that double-digit unemployment will remain an impediment to maintaining the momentum. While the gain is certainly better news than the decline NRF originally forecast, it is important to keep in mind that the 1.1% increase comes on top of a 3.4% decline during the 2008 holiday season, just as Target’s expectation beating comp increase was against an easy prior-year comparison.