Best Christmas In Decade Will Still Leave Some Retailers Behind

The good news for U.S. retailers is that the just-ended Christmas shopping season was probably the best one in a decade. The bad news? Some chains are still struggling to benefit from the industry’s upswing. Consumer confidence is high, unemployment is low, and Americans are increasing spending — with some third-party data showing holiday purchases up about 5 percent. But what Christmas 2017 may end up crystallizing is that a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats. A few major retailers, including Amazon.com Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc., are expected to reap an oversized share of the gains. For department-store chains and apparel sellers, it may be harder to please investors — leading to more doomsday talk for the brick-and-mortar sector. “The money and the sales are gravitating toward fewer and fewer players,” said Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics Inc. “There are a lot of tailwinds behind these retailers, but they aren’t generating a whole lot of profit growth.” Read more at AdAge.