Christmas comes early for area's eager buyers

Halloween? It's history.

Retailers are clearing shelves of unsold Halloween merchandise to make way for Yuletide products.

But he doesn't expect shoppers to be in a Christmas buying mood until after Election Day.

Christmas shopping "really starts early to mid-November in a pretty serious way," consumer researcher Britt Beemer, founder of America's Research Group, said Wednesday from Orlando, Fla.

Here's how forecasters see the 2006 holiday shopping season:

• Holiday sales will be strong, but year-over-year growth may be tough because 2005 was a strong year, says the International Council of Shopping Centers. Beemer predicts a 2.5 percent to 3 percent rise.

• Prices and weather affect the purse strings. Easing gasoline prices bode well for sales. Cold days put shoppers in a holiday-season mood, while warm weather dampens it, Beemer said.

• Hot, new consumer products? Beemer sees nothing this year to compare with the VCR, the compact disc player or Cabbage Patch dolls that spiked sales in past years.

• Gift cards. Their growth means many holiday purchases actually happen in January when consumers cash them in. ICSC predicts $30 billion to $40 billion in gift-card use this year.

• Buying online skews younger. A recent Consumer Reports poll found 39 percent of Americans plan to buy gifts online this year. Half of 18- to 34-year-olds said they will do their shopping online.

• Air freight companies. Wilmington-based ABX Air Inc. said it will hire 3,000 seasonal and part-time package sorters nationwide at hubs it manages for DHL, including 500 at DHL's main hub in Wilmington. Interested? Call (866) JOBS-ABX. Online at www.abxair.com/public/jobs.