Retailers are counting on a Disney princess to rescue the Christmas shopping season.
With stores limping toward Christmas after a terrible year, however, even Elsa can't command full price. Last week, Walmart discounted the much-ballyhooed talking, singing, glowing incarnation of the "Frozen" heroine nearly 30 percent to $28.88. Other stores slashed prices, too.
It's not just must-have toys at fire-sale prices two months before the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving discounts start the holiday shopping season. Beleaguered apparel titan Gap has dangled a flurry of discounts, including 40 percent off new fall fashions.
Price cuts this steep this early signal a brutal battle ahead to entice middle-income holiday shoppers. From Target to Macy's to JCPenney to Sears, middle-market stores have struggled in 2014.
JCPenney stumbled again in September with sales missing estimates. At rival Sears Holdings, shares closed at $24.78 Friday, down 6 percent, after a report that three companies that provide insurance for its vendors might slash coverage and a supplier has stopped shipping some items.
In a response to a request for comment, Sears reiterated: We are meeting our obligations and have ample inventory and liquidity to operate our business.
Stagnant wages and high debt levels are holding back middle-class shoppers, with stock market volatility adding to the angst.
"Promotions are going to be larger and deeper, and affect retailers' bottom line," said Robin Lewis, CEO of The Robin Report, who expects flat holiday sales compared to 2013. "People just don't have [the money]."
The National Retail Federation, by contrast, expects sales to rise 4 percent.
Any gains will most likely flow to the top and bottom of the retail spectrum, as well as to stores that cater to shoppers seeking unique, handmade items.
Gaia DiLoreto (left), owner of retail boutique, By Brooklyn, expects 30-percent gains in sales and profits, thanks to offbeat products, including a $32 slate cheese board and Christmas ornaments stamped with an image of a Brooklyn water tower.
At Williamsburg jewelry store Catbird, owner Rony Vardi expects strong sales of handmade ring dishes and the company's own line of stacking rings.
"People are focusing on local stores," DiLoreto said.
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