CHRISTMAS SALES AREN'T BREAKING ANY RECORDS

NEW YORK -- The clock is ticking for America's stores.

The holiday season opened with a strong start the day after Thanksgiving, but mall traffic has been down and sales have been lackluster since then in some areas of the country.

Retailers in the Cape Girardeau area report season sales about the same as a year ago.

"We're on track with our projections," said Joyce Hunter, marketing director at Westfield Shoppingtown in Cape Girardeau. "We've been interrupted by this winter storm, but we're hoping to go gang busters the rest of the season."

Kent Zickfield of Zickfield Jewelers and Gemologists, 29 N. Main, and Judith Lang of Judith Anne's Gifts, 130 N. Main, both in downtown Cape Girardeau, agreed that business may not be as good as some years, but it isn't bad.

"Sales have been consistent," said Zickfield. "Except for the past couple of days, we're about even with last year's totals."

"We're probably a bit under a year ago," said Lang.

Target near Siemers and Route K is optimistic. "Our sales have been steady compared to last year," said manager Harry Gafre. "We're optimistic for the rest of the holiday season."

With 10 days left until Christmas, stores are realizing that it's going to take a lot more than a few prayers to meet their sales expectations.

Many stores, such as Sears, are expected to cut prices even more to get shoppers into the malls of the nation this weekend.

"You are going to see big-time promotions," said John Konarski, vice president of research at the International Council of Shopping Centers. "It is sort of a cat-and-mouse game. Consumers are holding out for the big deals, and retailers are wondering how much they should give in."

John Morris, an analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison, said that he is seeing second and third markdowns being taken on holiday goods. Much of the promotions are coming from the big chains and discounters, like Wal-Mart and Kmart.

In addition to its planned 48-hour sales this weekend, Sears is now offering shoppers $10 discount certificates on a purchase of $20 or more for those arriving on Saturday between 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

All this, of course, is good news for the customers.

"There will be a lot of big bargains to be had," Konarski said.

Stores were already bracing for a difficult season because of a number of factors. Stock market volatility and a slowing economy have made people more cautious about buying things they don't necessarily have to have.

However, stores and analysts have been "shellshocked" over the deterioration of traffic and sales since Thanksgiving, according to Kurt Barnard, publisher of Barnard's Retail Marketing Report, based in Upper Montclair, N.J.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, sales at specialty stores in the nation's malls declined 9.8 percent for the week ended Dec. 10, compared with the year-ago period.

Some retail executives are blaming the lackluster sales on the drama surrounding the presidential election and the lack of must-have clothing items. But some analysts said people are getting nervous about their economic future.

Michael P. Niemira, vice president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, predicted this year's holiday sales will turn out to be the weakest since 1996.

"Retailers need to rethink what to do next," he said. "Do you step up promotions, and risk hurting profit margins? ... But there is very little they can do at this point. Their situation is very much locked into the economics."

B. Ray Owen of the Southeast Missourian contributed to this report.