A Scrooge Christmas?

I remember driving past some retail stores three weeks ago, and I had noticed that they were putting up the Christmas decorations. I thought to myself that it seemed somewhat early to be pushing Christmas. The currently uncertain economic outlook must have led the retailers to act anxious and nervous about the upcoming holiday sales, on which many depend.

Naturally, I thought it would be wise to visit some well-known malls in LA over the weekend to see how shoppers have responded to the early Christmas promotions. Not to my surprise, I didn't see that many shoppers - not even the expected mallrats.

So what does this mean? Well, people could be putting off their shopping for Black Friday or last minute shopping. Perhaps many have planned to avoid the hassles by shopping online. Or maybe it's the retailers fears coming true. A bleak Christmas would mean some difficult times up ahead. People should check under the Christmas tree for the number of presents, which could be called the Santa Claus indicator. If you see less presents, then maybe we're in for a slowdown. If there are plenty of presents, then I suppose we shouldn't worry too much.