Customer counts, she said, have increased since the store opened earlier this year, but most people are buying less than they might usually.
Nationally, that is consistent with economic trends that officials have pointed to for the 2008 holiday shopping season, which started the day after Thanksgiving, runs through Christmas and Hanukkah and ends with New Year’s Day sales.
The National Retail Federation trade group said Americans could spend $470.4 billion this year, a decrease of up to nearly 4% from last year.
“Stores are definitely busy with shoppers, but what you are seeing is a lot of tremendous value and great pricing that is driving consumer purchases,” said Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations for the National Retail Federation. “Consumers are very, very price conscious.”
Locally, Jack Kyser of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. said sales volume could decline up to 1% across Southern California.
Some of those frugal shoppers may flock to mid-priced clothing outlets, such as JCPenney in the Galleria, where officials are not expecting any slowdown in the coming days. Last year, millions shopped at JCPenney during the holiday shopping season, which store officials are looking to repeat this year, store manager Jeff Paige said.
JCPenney could also receive an uptick in sales from shoppers who had frequented Mervyn’s, slated to close today, Paige said.
Mervyn’s announced in October that it would begin closing its 149 stores after the clothing outlet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.
The store is now run by Great American Group, a liquidating company that has nearly completed emptying the site of all its wares.
While JCPenney looks to pick up the slack from one downed retailer, others have been forced to create new incentives to drive customers.
