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Deep discounting continues at malls

Black Friday shoppers at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

By TIFFANY MONTGOMERY
December 23, 2011 07:27 AM

A story today in the New York Times highlights something I’ve seen all holiday season at shopping centers – extreme, storewide discounts at lots of major retailers.

The discounts mean retailers were too optimistic about holiday sales, built too much inventory, and are now panicked and trying to clear it, analysts said.

Ann Taylor is offering 50% off the store, Gap 60%, J Crew 30%, Abercrombie & Fitch 40%.

An analyst quoted in the story said those stores were attracting most of the traffic, while retailers with more modest discounts were slower.

Overall, holiday sales were up slightly as of December 17 - .5 percent – vs. the same month last year, according to ShopperTrak.

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Deep discounting continues at malls

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