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U.S. retail sales rose a healthy 3.4 percent, to $14.7 billion, on Friday and Saturday, said ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks mall-store sales. And preliminary reports from online retailers showed strong Internet traffic and sales on Cyber Monday, so-called because it's one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Shoppers like Alva Bell Bullard, of Lauderhill, are helping make online shopping increasingly lucrative for retailers. Bullard, a corporate executive and mom, started her holiday shopping online Monday by visiting Web sites for JC Penney, Dillard's, Shoebuy.com and Overstock.com. By late afternoon, she had spent about $600 on gifts. "The days of me going store to store to store are over," Bullard said. Shopping online is easier and less stressful, she said. "You'll never find me in the stores the day after Thanksgiving. I can't stand holiday crowds."
At the Broward Mall, average sales were up about 4 percent from last year, and the department stores were clearly sales leaders, said Marketing Director Kafi Van Creighton. At the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, mall-wide sales were up roughly 10 percent over 2005. "We didn't have a hurricane this year, and I think more people were in the shopping mood," Marketing Director Dorian Zimmer said.
Shoppers in South Florida and across the nation snatched up bargains over the weekend, starting a strong holiday shopping season that continued Monday as consumers hit their computers in search of online deals.
U.S. retail sales rose a healthy 3.4 percent, to $14.7 billion, on Friday and Saturday, said ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks mall-store sales. And preliminary reports from online retailers showed strong Internet traffic and sales on Cyber Monday, so-called because it's one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Shoppers like Alva Bell Bullard, of Lauderhill, are helping make online shopping increasingly lucrative for retailers. Bullard, a corporate executive and mom, started her holiday shopping online Monday by visiting Web sites for JC Penney, Dillard's, Shoebuy.com and Overstock.com. By late afternoon, she had spent about $600 on gifts. "The days of me going store to store to store are over," Bullard said. Shopping online is easier and less stressful, she said. "You'll never find me in the stores the day after Thanksgiving. I can't stand holiday crowds."
But plenty of South Floridians did hit the stores and malls over the weekend.
In South Florida and across the nation, the biggest winners were electronics stores, toy stores and popular-priced department stores, such as JC Penney, that opened early.
At BrandsMart USA, sales for the three-day weekend were up double- digits and average ticket prices were up 30 percent at stores open at least a year, largely because of booming sales of flat-screen televisions, said Michael Perlman, president of the Hollywood-based electronics retailer.
Low prices didn't guarantee strong sales for every retailer, and some analysts question whether consumers will continue spending when discounts may not be as steep. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which promised its most aggressive discounting, said Saturday that the month's same- store sales, a key barometer for retailers measuring performance at stores open at least a year, would be weaker than expected.
That sent the stock market into a tailspin Monday. The Dow Jones industrials fell 158 points, and Wall Street had its worst day in more than four months as the dollar weakened and concerns arose about the strength of consumer spending during the holiday season, a critical time for the retail industry.
Nevertheless, weekend reports from South Florida malls showed increases compared with last year.
At the Broward Mall, average sales were up about 4 percent from last year, and the department stores were clearly sales leaders, said Marketing Director Kafi Van Creighton. At the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, mall-wide sales were up roughly 10 percent over 2005. "We didn't have a hurricane this year, and I think more people were in the shopping mood," Marketing Director Dorian Zimmer said.
Cynthia Cohen, president and founder of Strategic Mindshare, a Miami-based retail-consulting firm, was optimistic about consumer spending, especially in South Florida.
She called flat-screen TVs and expensive new gaming consoles, such as the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, "money boxes" that would drive revenue increases at electronics and big-box stores.
Department stores Macy's and Bloomingdale's, both owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., "looked better than they have in a long time," she said, but specialty apparel retailers might have a tough year because of poor decisions by manufacturers that are producing less-than-exciting fashions.
While brick-and-mortar retailers tallied up their sales Monday, Internet and multichannel retailers were watching online checkout counters.
E Fashion Solutions, an e-commerce provider of several major luxury and teen fashion brands, said total online retail sales were up between 40 and 50 percent by late Monday afternoon, and Web retailers were converting significantly more of their browsers into buyers.
"South Florida is definitely in the top five" U.S. markets for online sales, said Chris Leogrande, vice president of buying and planning for E Fashion Solutions.
Business Writer Paul Owers contributed to this report, which included information from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
U.S. retail sales rose a healthy 3.4 percent, to $14.7 billion, on Friday and Saturday, said ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks mall-store sales. And preliminary reports from online retailers showed strong Internet traffic and sales on Cyber Monday, so-called because it's one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Shoppers like Alva Bell Bullard, of Lauderhill, are helping make online shopping increasingly lucrative for retailers. Bullard, a corporate executive and mom, started her holiday shopping online Monday by visiting Web sites for JC Penney, Dillard's, Shoebuy.com and Overstock.com. By late afternoon, she had spent about $600 on gifts. "The days of me going store to store to store are over," Bullard said. Shopping online is easier and less stressful, she said. "You'll never find me in the stores the day after Thanksgiving. I can't stand holiday crowds."
At the Broward Mall, average sales were up about 4 percent from last year, and the department stores were clearly sales leaders, said Marketing Director Kafi Van Creighton. At the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, mall-wide sales were up roughly 10 percent over 2005. "We didn't have a hurricane this year, and I think more people were in the shopping mood," Marketing Director Dorian Zimmer said.
Shoppers in South Florida and across the nation snatched up bargains over the weekend, starting a strong holiday shopping season that continued Monday as consumers hit their computers in search of online deals.
U.S. retail sales rose a healthy 3.4 percent, to $14.7 billion, on Friday and Saturday, said ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks mall-store sales. And preliminary reports from online retailers showed strong Internet traffic and sales on Cyber Monday, so-called because it's one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Shoppers like Alva Bell Bullard, of Lauderhill, are helping make online shopping increasingly lucrative for retailers. Bullard, a corporate executive and mom, started her holiday shopping online Monday by visiting Web sites for JC Penney, Dillard's, Shoebuy.com and Overstock.com. By late afternoon, she had spent about $600 on gifts. "The days of me going store to store to store are over," Bullard said. Shopping online is easier and less stressful, she said. "You'll never find me in the stores the day after Thanksgiving. I can't stand holiday crowds."
But plenty of South Floridians did hit the stores and malls over the weekend.
In South Florida and across the nation, the biggest winners were electronics stores, toy stores and popular-priced department stores, such as JC Penney, that opened early.
At BrandsMart USA, sales for the three-day weekend were up double- digits and average ticket prices were up 30 percent at stores open at least a year, largely because of booming sales of flat-screen televisions, said Michael Perlman, president of the Hollywood-based electronics retailer.
Low prices didn't guarantee strong sales for every retailer, and some analysts question whether consumers will continue spending when discounts may not be as steep. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which promised its most aggressive discounting, said Saturday that the month's same- store sales, a key barometer for retailers measuring performance at stores open at least a year, would be weaker than expected.
That sent the stock market into a tailspin Monday. The Dow Jones industrials fell 158 points, and Wall Street had its worst day in more than four months as the dollar weakened and concerns arose about the strength of consumer spending during the holiday season, a critical time for the retail industry.
Nevertheless, weekend reports from South Florida malls showed increases compared with last year.
At the Broward Mall, average sales were up about 4 percent from last year, and the department stores were clearly sales leaders, said Marketing Director Kafi Van Creighton. At the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, mall-wide sales were up roughly 10 percent over 2005. "We didn't have a hurricane this year, and I think more people were in the shopping mood," Marketing Director Dorian Zimmer said.
Cynthia Cohen, president and founder of Strategic Mindshare, a Miami-based retail-consulting firm, was optimistic about consumer spending, especially in South Florida.
She called flat-screen TVs and expensive new gaming consoles, such as the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, "money boxes" that would drive revenue increases at electronics and big-box stores.
Department stores Macy's and Bloomingdale's, both owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., "looked better than they have in a long time," she said, but specialty apparel retailers might have a tough year because of poor decisions by manufacturers that are producing less-than-exciting fashions.
While brick-and-mortar retailers tallied up their sales Monday, Internet and multichannel retailers were watching online checkout counters.
E Fashion Solutions, an e-commerce provider of several major luxury and teen fashion brands, said total online retail sales were up between 40 and 50 percent by late Monday afternoon, and Web retailers were converting significantly more of their browsers into buyers.
"South Florida is definitely in the top five" U.S. markets for online sales, said Chris Leogrande, vice president of buying and planning for E Fashion Solutions.
Business Writer Paul Owers contributed to this report, which included information from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
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