Transcripts

It's The Eve of Disappointment For Retailers

SUZANNE PRATT: On this Christmas Eve, many Americans spent the day scrambling to finish their holiday shopping. But that flurry of last minute gift buying isn't likely to help the nation's retailers avoid one of the worst holiday seasons in decades. The International Council of Shopping Centers now sees holiday sales down as much as 2 percent on average. That would be the weakest performance since at least 1969, when the trade group started keeping tabs. Even discounts of 50 and 75 percent off weren't enough to ignite sales, as consumers cut back on spending due to the recession and rising unemployment.