Holiday Shopping

NEW YORK (AP) - Despite generous discounts and expanded shopping hours earlier in the season, many stores are finding themselves in
the same predicament as in recent years. They're waiting for those last-minute shoppers in the final days before Christmas who seem to be procrastinating even more than a year ago.

Based on early reports, sales results have been generally unimpressive this past weekend. One reason is that shoppers were held back by a wintry storm that spread sleet, freezing rain and snow from the Great Lakes states to New England. Consumers worried about the economy are also delaying their shopping even more this year, knowing there's a full weekend before Christmas, when the bargains will be even better.

Meanwhile, for online retailers, their fate appears to be already sealed: Holiday sales didn't live up to industry's hopes as lower-income shoppers pulled back on spending amid a housing slump.