Retailers say shoppers shopped

ISSAQUAH, Wash., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Holiday shoppers have helped U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. avoid inventory gluts and their accompanying markdowns, the retailer's financial chief said.

"Generally speaking, our season went well," Costco CFO Richard Galanti told The Wall Street Journal. "We were left pretty clean in terms of seasonal markdowns."

General items selling well at the members-only 529 stores included health-and-beauty gift packs, women's outerwear and DVDs. Jewelry sales were a downer, Costco said.

The positive account from Costco, based in Issaquah, Wash., matched predictions that retailers targeting affluent and upper-middle-class shoppers would fare better than those catering to more cash-strapped customers, the Journal said.

Internationally, those last-minute spenders spent about $3 million a minute in Britain, as shops and shopping centers braced for the long holiday shopping weekend, The Scotsman reported.

Preliminary figures released Tuesday by British retail research firm FootFall showed shopper numbers swelled by as much as 25 percent Sunday compared with the same day last year and by 6.8 percent Saturday, the Guardian reported.