Christmas: Never Good Enough

Another Christmas season has passed, leaving us again with various articles about how this season wasn't as good for retailers as expected. As I was reading an article about this year's retail shortcomings, I had a sense of deja-vu. Luckily, I know how to do searches on the Internet, and found that yes, I had seen stories about weak Christmas retail seasons before. Let's have a look:

2007

Despite furious, last-minute shopping and heavy discounting, holiday retail sales largely fell short of industry expectations. Target Corp. (TGT), the No. 2 U.S. discount retailer, warned December sales might actually decline, helping to send retailers' shares down.

- CNN Money, 12/26/07

2006

Rush at End, but Holiday Sales Fall Short, -The New York Times, 12/26/06

2005

Retailers Find Little To Cheer -The New York Times, 1/6/06. This article says, "The nation's merchants, trotting out deep discounts before Christmas, lured enough last-minute buyers to deliver a decent, if unspectacular, sales gain of 3.2 percent in December."

A Solid but Not Spectacular Finish for Holiday Spending -The New York Times, 12/29/05. Says the article: " the International Council of Shopping Centers found that sales at 69 chain stores rose 3.9 percent from 2004. The group's chief economist called the performance 'soft.'"

2004

Retail in Review: More Bah than Sis-Boom -The New York Times, 12/28/04. Says the gray lady: "as customers crammed stores the day after Christmas, waving their gift cards and seeking the latest markdowns, analysts were there, too - watching. They offered their latest judgment of the Christmas shopping season yesterday: good, but not great."

2003

Results Mixed, Stores Await A Final Burst Of Shopping - The New York Times, 12/26/03. "Retailers are hoping for good news [for day after Christmas shopping] because this holiday season has been disappointing to many. Although most analysts expect sales at stores over all to be 3 percent to 6 percent higher than last year's dismal holiday numbers, in September retailers were gleefully predicting double-digit growth."

2002

GROWTH IN SALES FOR HOLIDAY PERIOD IS LOWEST IN YEARS -The New York Times, 12/27/02. "After examining sales figures from the last frenzied hours before Christmas, experts yesterday declared this year's holiday season the worst in many years."

2001

Late Shopping Gives Retailers A Slight Boost -The New York Times, 12/27/01. "A surge of last-minute shopping may have given the nation's retailers and the economy a small boost, according to several reports on holiday sales released yesterday. The 11th-hour sales gains will not add much to retailers' profits because most of the increases were bought with dizzying price cuts like 70 percent off gold and diamond jewelry at Kmart and 75 percent off sweaters at Neiman Marcus."

TECHNOLOGY; A Bright Spot in a Bleak Holiday Retailing Season -The New York Times, 12/19/01. "In the worst year in recent memory for most retailers, there appears to be one small bright spot: the Internet."

2000

Sales in Holiday Season Rose, Just Barely, Over Last Year's -The New York Times, 12/27/00. "Despite widespread markdowns and a burst of last-minute buying, this year's holiday shopping season is shaping up as among the worst in a decade, industry analysts said yesterday."

1997

Diary -The New York Times, 12/28/97. "A sparkling economy failed to deliver the snappy holiday season that retailers were counting on. Analysts and merchants estimated that sales were up a scant 2 to 3 percent from December of last year. This was the third lackluster Christmas season in a row, despite the sterling economy and the wealth-generating gains of the stock market."

1996

Holiday Retail Refrain: Better Than '95 but Not Good Enough, -The New York times, 12/25/96. "As surprise led to surprise and the season faded to a close yesterday, sales appeared to have been stronger than in last year's dismal Christmas shopping season. But they were expected to fall short of the levels many people in the industry had hoped for, retailers and retail experts said yesterday."

1995

Retailers Call Sales in December Worst Since '90-'91 Recession, -The New York Times. 1/5/96. "In the culmination of a dismal year for retailers that may well lead to a further industry shakeout in the next few months, the nation's merchants reported the worst December sales figures yesterday since the 1990-91 recession."

So anyway, it looks like 1998 and 1999 were good, but every other year since 1995 has had some sort of negative spin put on Christmas sales. It seems as if retailers have expectations that are just a bit high.