NATIONAL
NEWS FROM AROUNO THE COUNTRY
Stores stormed with season’s skimpy-spending shoppers
■ ECONOMY: Family
oriented gifts top
Christmas shopping lists
this holiday season
(AP) — Consumers sent retail
ers a mixed message at the start
of this holiday season They hit
the stores without spending a
lot.
Analysts expect this to Ixi one
of the toughest Christmas sea
sons in years. Consumers uncer
tain about the economy and
their own finances already owe
billions to credit card compa
nies and banks.
Thanksgiving weekend sales,
the traditional first hint of the
season’s flavor, were strong for
household items from comput
ers and electronic.s to tool kits
and Snake Lights
Pragmatic consumers, if they
bought persona! gifts, wore
choosing small items like per
fume and cosmetics, or those
with long-term value like jewel
ry.
In mall shops, jewelry sales
Friday rose R.8 percent while
music, video, electronics and
software retailers saw a <) i per
cant gam Clothing sellers man
aged only a 1 percent gain and
home furnishings stores saw
business fall ^ 1 percent, said
John Konarski. a vice president
with the international Council
of Shopping Centers
The big picture was. still blur
ry While the International
Council of Shopping Centers
found business on Friday alone
rose 5.8 percent over last year at
mall s(x« laity stores. TeleChn* k
Servo os Im... a check approval
service, said the amount of sales
paid for by check that day fell
•4 B percent.
Still, there were spenders out
there, and at all hours, too Anna
Coger wa* buying Christinas
ornaments at nearly 4 n m at the
Wal-Mart Super*.enter in Hen
ton. Ark
"I just couldn't sleep." Cager
said Saturday. "So I decided to
come get some more of these so
l could finish the tree "
Some retailers were equally
enthusiastic
Sears, Roebu* k and Co . with
its wide assortment of men turn
dise and big inventory of com
petitively priced appliances and
electronics, "had the laist
thanksgiving weekend m our
history," Mid John Costello,
senior executive vice president
for marketing
Sears' big sellers were com
puters. big si rwm TVs, tool seis,
cosmetics, fragrances, scarves
and gloves
At the Airmail at Pittsburgh
International Airport, which
includes stores like The Cap.
Hally, The Nature Co and The
Athlete's Foot, sales rose 10 B
percent from last year, said
spokeswoman f-eslie Uninr
But Saks Fifth Avenue, which
had strong sales all year, saw
them taper off at the start of the
season Fx< optionally strong
sales earlier in the month at the
upscale fashion store probably
siphoned off weekend business.
said chairman Philip H. Miller
And some people may pist lie
biding their time
llnnukkah. whit h starts Dm
1’. is more than n week later
than in t'1'14 And with Christ
mas falling on a Monday this
year, shopper* realizing they
have a full weekend before the
big dav are probably putting off
their gift buying longer than
usual, Miller said.
Still, caution was apparently
the shopper s wait hword.
At Pier (>nu Imports bit , busi
ness was good Friday and Satur
day. saiti i hnirntan Clark
lohnsou
"We had very strong furniture
sales," be saiti "The shopper
was more pragmatic, tending to
btt> products that had family
applit .itious "
FedEx labor dispute won’t cause delays
■ SHIPPING: Union leaders
want better employee
benefits, company just
wants fast deliveries
MEMPHIS. Term. (AP) — Fed
eral Express Corp., one of
Santa's busiest helpers,
promised Sunday to continue
normal operations in spite of a
threat of slowdowns in u labor
dispute with its pilots.
"We intend to run our sys
tem,” said Tom Martin, FedEx
vice president for communica
tions. "We ll roly on crew mem
hers who are ready and willing
to fly, and we think we'll have
an adequate number to do that."
Pilots were negotiating for
their first contract with the
package hauler since the Air
Line Pilots Association won cer
tification in 1993, But the com
pany rejected the last offer
submitted before a federally
ordered cooling-off period
ended at midnight Saturday.
Rather than strike, union teed
ers said their members would
work to the letter of all Federal
Aviation Administration and
company regulations and refuse
to fly overtime during the peak
Christmas season
The company warned pilots
they could face disciplinary
action, in< hiding dismissal, fora
slowdown. Martin said.
FedEx, the world's largest
overnight delivery company,
delivers nearly l 4 million pack
ages each working day On its
busiest day of last year's holiday
season, it shipped 3.4 million
The union says it represents
about half of the company's
2,950 pilots, who average
$128,000 a year Pay ranges from
$40,000 for flight engineers to
more than $200,000 for wide
bodv captains who work over
time.
While the union wants
improved pay. benefits, retire
ment programs and job security,
the company wants to cut vaca
tion time, change work rules
and cancel profit sharing.
The chairman of AU’A's
FedKx member*. Jim* DuPrte.
accused the company of going
on a witch hunt
"Anything a pilot does can ln>
second-guessed by managers,"
DePete said "There was even a
manager in (California who stood
in the control tower with a video
camera to film planes taxiing
But those kinds of actions are
causing a hac klash I'herw is
tremendous support out there
for what we re doing "
FedKx kicked at least four
pilots off its property Saturday,
including one in Oakland. Calif.
who was ac< used of moving his
plane down the runway too
slowly. Al.PA representative
Will Johnson said
All four will have a hearing
before FedKx managers "on Mon
day. Johnson said.
"The whole issue now is
about representation, about
union busting We believe the
pilots will lei vindicated in their
hearing*." Johnson said
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