Shopping slows prior to Black Friday

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. retail receipts fell in the week ending Friday as consumers appeared to be waiting for the holiday sales events to kick in, a trade group said.

Sales dropped 0.9 percent week to week although they were up 2.8 percent compared with the same week of 2010, the International Council of Shopping Centers said.

For the week, customer traffic was light at discount stores, but slightly improved at department stores, ICSC said.

The weekly sales report said, "The pronounced discount store traffic weakness seems a likely result of consumers willing to wait for the big bargains on Black Friday and do their shopping at that time."

Surveys indicate 18 percent of consumers are at least half done with their holiday shopping, ICSC said. Meanwhile, more than 33 percent of consumers indicate they plan to hit the stores on Black Friday, the sales event immediately following the Thanksgiving holiday.