Nov 9, 2009 11:45 pm US/Eastern
X-Mas Shopping Woes: Inventories Way Down In '09
If, For Example, You Are Looking For That Toy Hamster, You May Find It Some Tough Sledding This Holiday Season
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Are you looking for the Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamster to give as a Christmas present this season? Good luck finding it.
CBS
The holidays may be weeks away, but high shopping season is here.
And the most popular toys and products are already flying off store shelves.
CBS 2 HD has some advice on what parents should do.
A robotic toy hamster is the hot toy of the season.
But try finding it.
"The Zhu Zhu Pets are sold out," shopper Tamar Megale said.
With seven weeks to go, there's a new challenge for consumers. Inventories are down across the country, about 10 percent over last year, for clothing, home furnishings, and, of course, toys. A shortage, shoppers say, they haven't seen in years.
"Only with Cabbage Patch dolls, but this is a first for me," Megale said. "I've been to Toys R Us 10 times."
But instead of the buying binges of the Cabbage Patch days, this low inventory is because of the economy. Store owners are too concerned to fill their shelves.
"It's like a game of chicken between retailers and consumers waiting to see who will have the best markdown," retail analyst Joe Feldman said.
Retailers are keeping inventories thin to avoid having too much left over. Consumers with thin wallets are not splurging like in other years.
"The retailers don't want to have any markdowns so they're trying to buy a lot less and as a result there's less on the shelves," Feldman said.
And that will have an effect on the Christmas lists. But finding what you are looking for won't be easy, adding to shoppers' woes even before they open their wallets.
In recent weeks, toy makers have dispatched executives to China to make sure they get enough products to keep shelves full.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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