Retailers report sluggish holiday sales.

Byline: SUSAN PALMER The Register-Guard

Patricia Backen scanned the jewelry in the case at the New Twist in the Fifth Street Public Market, but she was just browsing at the upscale housewares and art store, not buying on the day after Christmas.

"We cut way back on spending," Backen said. "It just didn't seem to make sense," given the state of the economy.

Backen, a free-lance graphic designer who lives in Marin County, Calif., said visiting family in Pleasant Hill was a higher priority for her, husband Steve and daughter Samantha.

"Buying gifts just wasn't that important," she said.

She wasn't the only shopper looking, not buying Wednesday on what is typically one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Elenor Houston of Marcola stopped by the Nike store with her daughter on Wednesday to exchange a pair of sweatpants, but she didn't plan to go after post-holiday discounts.

"No money left," she said. Economic concerns kept her from spending as much as usual on Christmas.

"I'm being a little cautious," she said. "Things are so up in the air right now."

Her mood reflected a national trend that handed retailers their worst holiday season in at least a decade.

An average gain of 1.5 percent to 2 percent over sales last year is expected at 88 stores across the nation tracked by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, said bank Vice President Michael Niemira. It would be the worst sales performance since at least 1990, when the increase over the previous year was 2 percent, he said.

And sales don't equal profits, which could be down as much as 10 percent, weaker than the 5 percent decline Niemira expected.

At least two national retailers bucked that trend. Wal-Mart reported an expected increase of about 6 percent in sales over last year.

And on-line retailer Yahoo! Inc. reported holiday sales up 86 percent from a year ago, led by video game consoles, digital cameras, laptop computers, toys and apparel.

Complete sales figures for the season won't be available until mid-January.

Locally, some merchants held their own and some did better than expected.

Down to Earth, which sells garden supplies and housewares in two Eugene stores and distributes products to stores nationwide, saw increases in garden supply sales for the year, manager Zeph Van Allen said. Houseware sales, however, were off by about half a percent from last year, he said.

Down To Earth may have an advantage over some retailers during tough economic times because of the price variety of its products Van Allen said.

"We're selling a lot of practical inexpensive things. People buy the small items in tough times and the luxury items in good times," he said.

Sales at Maggie Rhodes, a clothing and housewares shop at Fifth Street Public Market, increased 20 percent in November and climbed 5 percent in December over last year, store manager Tracy Hughes said.

"It was very flat in October, but in November and December it really picked up," she said.

Hughes couldn't attribute the increase in sales to anything specific but said that at least two shoppers looking for day-after Christmas items in her store said they spent more this year than last.

"They said they wanted to help support the economy and to hear that twice in one day is something," Hughes said.

National retailer Target also had a better than expected season, possibly due in part to additional holiday discounts, said store manager Debby White.

The shopping season got off to a slow start but picked up in the last three weeks, White said.

"We did do some price cuts throughout the store, generated from headquarters. But I don't think shoppers were really brought in for the price because we didn't advertise," she said.

"We did better this year than last year."

Given that analysts were "predicting doom and gloom" for retailers this year, holiday sales were "pretty strong" at Gateway Mall in Springfield, marketing director Dawn Champoux said.

In November, for example, store sales were greater than the same month last year, she said, declining to give figures.

Champoux said she did not yet have this month's sales report, but her conversations with store managers indicate that December's business was better than expected.

The retailers that I've talked to "were good, were happy," she said.

Shoppers looking for after-holiday bargains were likely to find plenty, with one significant caveat.

Many stores anticipating modest sales stocked less, said Down to Earth's Van Allen.

"Generally if you really are a price hunter, you're better getting it after the holidays, but this year the problem will be finding what you want," he said.

Register-Guard reporter Ed Russo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CAPTION(S):

Patricia Backen (right) and her father, John Peralez, look at jewelry at New Twist in the Fifth Street Public Market on Wednesday afternoon.