Sluggish holiday sales leave retailers uneasy

[Career Prole]

The holiday shopping season is hurtling toward its close, but demand remains soft and inconsistent.

With just 11 days before Christmas - and heading into the last full weekend of shopping - retailers have been steadily easing prices. But a burst of late spending, which saved the last holiday season, has yet to materialize.

The busiest spending day so far remains the Friday after Thanksgiving, the official kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Sales have cooled significantly since then.

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Luxury retailers have seen booming sales. But dragging down overall sales growth is the key holiday gift category of apparel - particularly at low and moderate price levels - as low- and middle-income consumers struggle.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=677&ncid=749&e=10&u=/usatoday/20041214/bs_usatoday/sluggishholidaysalesleaveretailersuneasy

Wow...what a surprise. I could've sworn I'd heard that the chimp's tax cuts showered booty on everyone in America, yet only the fur & Ferrari crowd is pitching in.

Why do we in the rank and file hate america?