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Store discounts on tap – Metro US

Store discounts on tap

Department stores Saks, J.C. Penney and Macy’s reported November sales that fell short of analysts’ estimates after discounts failed to persuade shoppers to increase their spending on holiday gifts.

Seventy-five percent of retailers fell short of November sales estimates, said Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Mass.-based Retail Metrics. Shoppers may benefit from steeper discounts this month as retailers try to spur holiday spending, he said. But bigger discounts would hurt sales margins.
“They’re going to be forced to put in some unplanned promotions,” Perkins said Thursday.

Warm weather also hurt sales of outerwear and cold-weather gear in November, said Brian Sozzi, an analyst at research firm Wall Street Strategies in New York. Macy’s had “notable outerwear inventory on the floor that looked ripe for markdown in December,” he said.