NEW YORK (AP) -- Last-minute shoppers -- snowed in by last weekend's East Cost storm or just waiting for the best deals -- are coming out in force the day before Christmas.
Stores are counting on these last-minute shoppers in a season that appears to be better than last year's disastrous season.
Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake was packed with shoppers on Thursday.
Brandon Critchfield admits he procrastinated, but he also says his wife has kept him busy.
"My wife kept coming up with honey-do lists," he stated.
A Christmas Eve snowstorm in the nation's heartland is slowing some shoppers after hitting the mountain states a day earlier. But based on early readings, stores nationally have been packed all week.
Shoppers were procrastinating even more this year than last year. A storm that slammed the Northeast on the critical weekend before Christmas also put more pressure on merchants.
Research firm ShopperTrak reported sales nationally dropped 12.6 percent compared with a year ago. But some stores were confident that they could make it up because of a big surge of shopping that occurred this past week as shoppers played catch-up. The company, which tracks total sales and traffic at more than 50,000 outlets, is sticking to its prediction for a 1.6 percent gain, compared with a 5.9 percent drop a year ago.
National Retail Federation expects that total retail sales will slip 1 percent, though some experts say that might be a a bit too cautious. A year ago, they fell 3.4 percent by the trade group's calculations.
The International Council of Shopping Centers forecasts that sales at stores open at least a year will be up 1 percent, compared with a 5.8 percent drop a year ago.
