Posted on 12/23/2003 5:02:30 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
The national Code Orange alert didn't deter city shoppers from spending the green on Christmas and Chanukah presents yesterday. Big flagship stores up and down Manhattan were packed, which meant long lines and crowded sidewalks for customers to battle. "I just healed from an aneurysm, so nothing is going to stop me," said Brenda Austin, 40, a bookkeeper from Manhattan who carried a full Macy's bag. "I'm not going to live in fear. Our time is our time." Retailers cheered that kind of spirit, hoping the third-to-last day before Christmas could help get the lackluster holiday shopping season back on track. Early returns show the weekend - the first storm-free weekend after two whiteouts - fell short of expectations. "The malls were packed from a parking standpoint, but I have a sense the numbers were probably a little bit soft," said Michael Niemira at the International Council of Shopping Centers. Niemira said he expects holiday retail sales to rise 4% over last year instead of the 4.5% jump originally forecast. A spokesman for Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said it still expects December sales to reach only the low end of its forecast. "Many shoppers are still very worried about their long-term financial status and the status of their jobs," said Richard Hastings at credit tracker Bernard Sands. Still, chandelier earrings and monogrammed handbags flew off the shelves at Macy's in Herald Square, spokeswoman Elina Kazan said. At the Toys "R" Us in Times Square, Alison Berlinson, 45, of Brooklyn, bought five bags worth of toys for her five grandchildren. "The lines are astronomically long," she said, shrugging off the Orange alert. "You can't stop living."
Exactly. Everything I'm hearing on the news sounds like a bad Cat in the Hat book:
They could come in a shiny plane
They could come in a big freight train
They could hit a rural town
Or bomb New York and make us frown....
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