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world NEWSThursday 24 December 2015
Warm weather for holidays leaves stores in the cold
ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Shoppers carry bags as they cross a pedestrian walkway near Macy’s in Herald Square in clothes, the scarves are
AP Retail Writer not selling,” said Ron Fried-
NEW YORK (AP) — The un- New York. The unseasonably warm weather has left some people feeling cold about holiday man, head of the retail
seasonably warm weather and consumer products
has left some people feel- shopping. Sales of cold-weather items have been particularly icy. Sales of women’s boots group at accounting firm
ing cold about holiday Marcum LLP. As a result,
shopping. in New York, are down 24 percent for the first half of December, according to Planalytics, a he says shoppers will see
Rosemarie Nowicki, who discounts of 75 percent in
lives in Berkeley Heights, weather forecasting firm for retailers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) after Christmas. The fair-
N.J., finally spent some of weathered shopping chal-
her holiday budget last depend on the holiday year. That’s the largest down 24 percent for the lenge underscores how
weekend buying coats on- season for up to 40 percent weather-related loss since first half of December, ac- U.S. consumers, still affect-
line for her family because of their annual revenue. 1998 when a devastating cording to Planalytics. And ed by the Great Recession,
she hated the thought of Planalytics, a weather fore- ice storm hit parts of the First Data, which analyzes remain strategic in their
being stuck in a store with casting firm for retailers, es- Northeast. payments at stores and buying patterns. It’s a habit
such mild temperatures timates so far this season Sales of cold-weather items online, said fur sales fell they picked up during the
outside. mall-based clothing stores have been particularly icy. 20 percent from Oct. 31 economic downturn that’s
“It’s hard to get into the have lost $343 million in Sales of women’s boots in through Monday. “Winter remained ever since. Many
holiday spirit; I’ve been sales compared with last New York, for instance, are didn’t happen and so the shoppers only buy what
walking around in short- they can wear, so it stands
sleeve shirts and capri leg- to reason that they’re not
gings,” Nowicki says. “I was buying coats, boots and
certainly not going to the hats this year. And since
mall.” cold-weather items are
Turns out, lots of shoppers also hot gifts during the
feel the same way as tem- holiday shopping season,
peratures in cities across many of those items are
the country, including New left on store shelves. C.
York and Philadelphia, Britt Beemer, America’s Re-
near record levels for De- search Group, a consumer
cember. The balmy weath- research firm, estimates
er hasn’t done anything to that cold-weather items
entice Americans to ven- account for 26 percent
ture out and shop, which of overall holiday clothing
has hurt sales at stores that sales. The National Retail
Federation, nation’s larg-
Warm holiday weather feels strange for some in US est retail group, is still stick-
ing by its prediction earlier
GENE JOHNSON travel, bringing spring- that have closed and for the Pacific Ocean near in the season that sales in
Associated Press like warmth to the North- backcountry skiers who the equator. That’s helped November and Decem-
SEATTLE (AP) — Astrid Rau east and so much snow confront avalanche risks. drive warm air west to east ber will rise 3.7 percent to
just baked 16 kinds of across the West that even And like Rau, many Ameri- across the U.S. mainland $630.5 billion. That would
Christmas cookies, includ- skiing slopes have been cans complain that it just and kept colder air from mark a slowdown from the
ing a batch in the shape of overwhelmed. Southern- doesn’t feel like the holi- the Arctic at bay, he said. 4.1 percent growth last
snowflakes. But she’s nev- ers in large parts of Louisi- days without a chill in the In the Pacific Northwest year. And figures from First
ertheless having trouble ana and Arkansas awoke air. Big parts of the county and California, the effects Data show higher overall
getting in the holiday spirit, Wednesday to tornado are basking in above-aver- of El Nino haven’t really hit sales growth for the period
thanks to balmy weather in watches two days before age temperatures, espe- yet. They’re typically seen from Oct. 31 through Mon-
her hometown of Perkasie, Christmas. In a reversal of a cially east of the Mississippi in January through March, day compared to the year-
Pennsylvania. typical Christmas, forecast- and across the Northern and the heavy rains and ago period. Analysts be-
“I associate cold with ers expect New York to be Plains. Record warmth was snows in the region are lieve that online business-
Christmas,” the 55-year-old in the mid-60s (more than expected on Christmas probably not linked to the es are actually benefiting
says. “And if it’s warm it just 15 degrees Celsius) on the Eve along the East Coast, phenomenon, said Wash- from the warm weather,
doesn’t feel quite right to holiday — several degrees said Bob Oravec, lead ington State Climatologist offsetting sluggish traffic at
me.” higher than Los Angeles. forecaster with the Nation- Nick Bond. the stores. “Warm weather
A weather pattern part- The mild conditions have al Weather Service. In addition to El Nino, a has helped online shop-
ly linked with El Nino has helped golf courses in New He laid the credit — or weather pattern called the ping rather than hurt it,”
turned winter upside-down England do brisk business, blame — with a strong El North Atlantic Oscillation is said Beemer, adding that
across the U.S. during a but the pattern comes at Nino pattern, the warm- also helping keep cold air people who don’t want to
week of heavy holiday a steep cost for ski resorts ing of surface waters in bottled up in the Arctic.q be stuck at a mall are buy-
ing gift cards online.q
