Oct 13, 2008 7:19 pm US/Eastern
Holiday Shopping In October? You Better Believe It
Stores Trying To Attract Shoppers With Huge Sales
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (CBS) ―
The holiday shopping season doesn't officially begin until November. But with a gloomy holiday retail forecast, sales are already starting to pop up at many stores.
On this Columbus Day, stores at the Woodbridge Center Mall are trying to lure shoppers in with big sales during these tough economic times.
"I'm finding it's only October and everyone has Christmas stuff out already so that's pretty scary they're not even waiting for Thanksgiving," shopper Victoria Cocchiara said.
But one mother of four isn't complaining.
"The shirt's $6.99 and it's 30 percent off," the woman said.
She and other shoppers are taking full advantage.
"Finding some bargains already and trying to stock up early," Laurie Scioscia said.
"Times are rough right now you've got to hold on to every dollar that you have," Steven Hilton added.
And a lot store owners say they have a lot of big sales out there mainly because of the tough economy.
One salesperson showed us a carry-on bag that would normally go for $44 that they were selling for $22.
One former college basketball star just opened up his new store – "Got Game" -- inside the mall. He was working the counter himself. And like many other stores Lorenzo Pearson is not hiring as many workers and cutting back on inventory.
"We have definitely condensed what we order and what we manufacture because we manufacture our own products," Pearson said.
In fact, the mall manager said because of inventory cutbacks huge sales could quickly disappear as we approach Thanksgiving because much of the merchandise will simply be gone.
"And not too much of it during this holiday season and the spring so people want to get out there and make sure they get what they want for the holidays," senior general manager Amy Bellisano said.
The bottom line is while the deals may look good now they may not look as good as the holiday season gets closer.
Because of expectations for a dismal shopping season, analysts expect this may be the weakest holiday hiring season since 2001.
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