The news is filtering out that sales for the most part are worse than last year which continues a trend of lowering Christmas sales early in the season.
One of the reasons CNBC uses is higher online sales. This shows a disconnect in the MSM as they haven't figured it out yet that online sales are just as good as regular sales. That is a simplistic view on my part. Online sales though were not enough to create bigger numbers overall.
The trend for a number of years now has been for shoppers to wait until retailers pull the plug and knock prices down in large percentages. That usually happened towards the end of the Christmas shopping season. This was the case in years gone by but some retailers either eager or desperate for better numbers lower their prices earlier and earlier. Online retailers can offer lower prices up front due to low overhead and low labor costs.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102224513
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Bloomberg with a surprising amount of truthiness:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-30/u-s-consumers-reduce-spending-by-11-over-thanksgiving-weekend.html
Are people just starting to think that shopping for presents for Christmas is not the reason for the season as that famous quote goes? I have heard others say they only shop for the kids anymore. They just enjoy the season and the getting together. Maybe there is a shift underway?
Look who shops on Black Friday. Totally another mindset there. Fights and struggles for deals. Walmart turns into a dread zone. Target too. Many of the others are sitting back and wondering where everyone is. Sears is at the top of that list. They were very disappointed this past weekend. Considering they had to borrow money to buy product for the sales that didn't happen is another nail in their coffin. Their death has been excruciatingly slow. I think most sane people wait out the mess.
I would watch Whole Foods and stores in that category. Having good food and good drink is becoming more and more the thing. I think they will have a good Christmas season.