The Newport Centre shopping mall in New Jersey is always busy on the first weekend after Thanksgiving - and this year was no exception.
Families crowded along the three-tiered walkways housing 86 retail outlets, including Ashley Stewart and Victoria's Secret, while Bruce Springsteen's recording of Santa Claus is Coming to Town reminded them that this was the start of the Christmas shopping season.
But if you wanted a break from the bustle, the most tranquil place was inside one of the mall's department stores.
"We just aren't doing as much as we expected," shrugged an assistant in a half-empty J C Penney's. Victoria's Secret was also not as busy as it should have been, bearing out what chief financial officer Ms Tracey Travis of the lingerie chain said last week: "We're projecting sales to be down significantly and we continue to see a difficult economic climate ahead."
The stores with most customers were inexpensive outlets. "We have been really busy since Friday," said Ray at the Spencer Gifts checkout, which specialises in cheap novelty items. "Let's hope it stays this way and we keep our jobs."
Many shops enticed buyers with special offers. Bath & Body Works, the toiletry chain which suffered a 16 per cent decline in sales in the last quarter, was giving $10 (€11.42) off for every $100 in receipts. Sears was selling leather jackets for $100.
"The competition is tougher. We recognise that consumers spend the most in the store you go to first, and we want to be the first store," said Sears spokeswoman Ms Peggy Palter.
Activity in US malls in the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas is always closely watched by analysts as an indicator of the state of the US economy, two thirds of which is driven by consumers.
Having suffered from near-empty stores for days after the September 11th attacks, retailers have been bracing for a difficult season. The US National Retail Federation predicts the worst holiday-spending rate since the recession in 1990, with sales, excluding services and cars, rising 2.5-3 per cent to roughly $206 billion, making it the worst retail performance since 1990.
The American Express Retail Index has forecast that overall holiday spending on goods and services will fall 7 per cent from last year.
Early signs are that the promotions and discounts are keeping shoppers interested. Store sales on Friday, the first holiday shopping day after Thanksgiving, were up 2.4 per cent nationwide from a year ago, according to a survey by TeleCheck Services. "Those are good numbers considering we are in a recession," said Mr William Ford, TeleCheck's senior economic adviser.
The best hope for retail stores was that people were travelling less and buying fewer cars and homes, said Richard Jaffe of UBS Warburg, "They're feeling a little bit deprived. I think that's going to spur them into the mall and to buy the small ticket items."
High-price stores are the most likely to have a miserable Christmas.
