Evening star., 1949-12-04
Good YuIe Business
Seen, With Major
Strikes at End
By G. A. Phillips

NEW YORK, Dec. 3.-Business
and industry cleared the last ma
jor labor hurdle in good stride
this week and quickly prepared
for what most experts believe will
be a hangup Christmas season.
Already behind schedule be-
cause of economic upsets due to
the steel and coal strikes. store
managers put finishing touches on
elaborate plans to lure enough
dollars into cash registers to equal
or exceed last years record VOL
unle.
Their chances of topping 1948
were regarded as excellent. not
Withstanding the short time left
(only three weeks. Many OBJ
servers believed the odds were no
sitter than even that unit volume
will be higher this year if the
dollar total falls a little short.
This is because prices Of most
Christmas merchandise are lower
this year than last year.
The magazine Sales Manage
ment forecast December total
of $12,745, 100000 for the coun-'
try as whole. a decline of about
8 per cent in dollars from the all
time peak of $13.166, 100000 re-
ported by the Department of
Commerce for December. 1948. II
allowance is made for a decline
of from 212 to per cent in aver
age prices this December against
those prevailing year ago, ui:ev
volume this year should be larger.
Best Spots Indicated.
The magazine found favorable
sales indicators in Arkansas. Colo
rado. Florida. Indiana. Louisiana,
Montana, Nevada. New York,
Texas and Wyoming. Cities that
should make the best showing in
those States include Reno, Baton
Rouge. Albuquerque, Butte, Bill
ings, Bakersfield, New Orleans.
Casper, Miami, Raleigh, Boise,
Battlesville and Albany.
From other quarters came
equally optimistic forecasts OF
Christmas business this year. The
retail News Bureau, private re-
search outfit that serves depart
ment stores throughout the coun-
try, said a survey of 167 stores
big and little-disclosed 40 per
cent are planning for an increase
in sales. five per cent expect vol
ume to match that of a year ago
and IS per cent expect it to de-
cline.
AS of now, the News Bureau
said, 37.2 per cent of the mer-
chants reported unit sales are
running ahead of last year, 1863
per cent said business was even
and 46.5 per cent found transac-
tions trailing.
Advertising budgets follow a
similar pattern, the survey dis
closed. About 40 per cent of the
stores have budgeted for busi-
ness gains, 47 per cent plan to
spend less and the remainder plan
to spend about the same as last
year.
Aided BY Cold Weather.
Aided by cold weather, this
weeks retail trade rose slightly
over that of the previous week but
was under volume of a year ago,
the weekly Dun g. Bradstreet re-
view said, adding that there was
a general preference for lower
priced merchandise. .... g.
A red-hot market fer television
sets was reported from every quar-
ter and merchants believe this one
item will be a major factor in
sending business above the 1948
mark.
The tremendous demand for
television sets caught many manu-
facturers off guard. They ex-
perienced an Unexpectedly severe
slump in sales last summer and a
wave of ce-slashing tn a t
brought many sets to close to
one-half last years prices. The
buying upsurge began soon after
Labor Day and has steadily
gained momentum.