Retailers to Drop Prices After Disappointing December Holiday Sales

Anable to wait any longer, many retailers are reported to have drastically reduced prices on Christmas gift items in an effort to offset disappointing holiday sales leading up to Christmas. With the holiday season making up as much as 40 percent of many retailers yearly sales, stores have been slashing prices in hopes of enticing shoppers to buy last minute.

KB Toys is currently offering as much as 75 percent off on hundreds of video games and toys. While Kohl's has gone 50 to 60% off all fine jewelry and 75 percent off Christmas ornaments. And Ann Taylor has even taken 40% off everything cashmere.

''I'm not sure what happened," stated Issie Shait, general manager of the CambridgeSide Galleria. ''The Friday after Thanksgiving was great. The economy is better than a year ago, the unemployment numbers are better. I was hoping for a better season than we're seeing so far."

As the holiday shopping season proves more lackluster than retailers had hoped, retail analysts are now lowering their forecasts for holiday sales. Gift industry analysts reported that total sales were down 7% to $6.7 billion on Saturday, compared with the same time period Saturday last year and only 52 percent of people surveyed shopped for Christmas gifts this weekend compared with 55 percent the previous week.