'Twas the Weekend Before Christmas

Retailers were hoping for a last-minute holiday shopping push from consumers during the last weekend before Christmas. The AP noticed "shoppers swarmed racks offering 65 percent off women's clothing" at Macy's on 34th Street—not to mention other deep discounts around the store. But some shoppers, like N.C. resident Dee Dobbins, were a little more grim, "This is going to be a poor Christmas." The International Council of Shopping Centers believes that stores will be posting their "worst performance for the holidays since at least 1969, when it began tracking such data," but that's not stopping some Macy's stores—including 34th Street in Manhattan, Queens Center in Rego Park, and Staten Island locations— from being open 24 hours/day through Christmas Eve.