The nation's retailers ushered in the post-Christmas shopping season on Tuesday by slashing prices even more on holiday items and stocking up on fresh merchandise.
With the 2006 pre-Christmas season falling short of sales expectations for many merchants, the retail industry hoped that shoppers, armed with gift cards, would spend freely in the weeks ahead on discounted items as well as full-priced merchandise. That would boost business in December and in the fourth-quarter.
Federated Department Stores Inc.'s Macy's opened its doors at 7 a.m. and offered discounts ranging from 50 percent to 75 percent. Toys "R'' Us Inc. offered 50 percent discounts on selected toys. The toy seller was also showcasing hot toys from 2007 in its stores.
Merchants "are going to use all 31 days in December,'' and the month of January, said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research company in Port Washington, N.Y.
At Buckland Hills mall in Manchester, Conn, about 10 people waited outside Macy's as the doors opened, including Liz Pistritto and her daughter, Nina Gioielli, 24, who go to Macy's every year for the post-Christmas sales.
"It's a tradition. We've been doing this since I was little, since I was 2 -- and I'm 46 now,'' said Pistritto, who said they spend three to four hours shopping on the day after Christmas, mostly looking for ornaments and wrapping paper.
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