NEW YORK, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Big spenders pleasantly surprised luxury retailers during November, but the Wall Street Journal says bargain hunters rewarded discounters more modestly.
The Journal said those mixed holiday season spending signals saw upscale department stores, such as Nordstrom, Saks Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group Inc., posting sales far exceeding expectations.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, reported comparable-store sales growth, but with weaker than expected sales during the Thanksgiving weekend, which is considered the start of the holiday spending period.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Economist Mike Niemira told the Wall Street Journal: "It's pretty likely we'll see a repeat of this pace or slightly better in December, for a two-month increase between 4 percent and 4.5 percent. That will be better than the last few years and the best performance since 1999, but it's not saying much."
The National Retail Federation said it expects overall retail sales for the holiday season to rise 5.7 percent.
