Traffic Down for Holiday Y2K
Traffic during the second full week (Dec.10–16) of the all-important holiday shopping season was down 9.6 percent in malls and 14.4 percent in department stores from the same period last year, according to data compiled for the National Retail Federation (NRF).
However, last year was an exceptionally bountiful holiday for retailers. Moreover, this year there is an extra shopping weekend before the Christmas holiday, which falls on a Monday. “The extra Saturday we have before Christmas this year will be crucial as we enter the home stretch,” according to Jeff Konz, director of marketing for Chicago-based RCT Systems Inc., which monitors holiday retail traffic for the NRF. “Last year, almost 32 percent of the season’s traffic occurred in the last seven days.” Until the final weekend’s figures are in, Konz added, the “jury will remain out.”
