FOX Business: Dismal Holiday Sales at Macy’s, Kohl’s Spell Gloom for Sector

After reports of lower-than-expected sales for November and December, Macy’s shares were down 9.6 percent and Kohl’s shares were down 15.2 percent in premarket trading on Thursday. Investors were shocked, according to FOX Business, given that a bump in holiday spending this year was highly anticipated. The National Retail Federation had forecast sales to rise 3.6 percent to $656 billion for 2016 holiday sales.

Amazon, however, experienced their “best ever” holiday season, with more than one billion items shipped worldwide. This is just a strong representation of how consumers are turning to the Internet more and more for shopping.

"(The forecast) reflects the realities of market share losses to off-price retailers such as TJX Cos Inc , Amazon and other online threats, with the pace of store rationalization and monetization just not fast enough," said Deutsche Bank's Paul Trussell.

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