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Britt Beemer America's Research Group articles most recent first Furniture Buying Index Falls in May Consumers Shift Spending To What They Need, Not What They Want Furniture Buying Index Drops Two More Points; Wal Mart Expands Home Furnishings In Midst of Sluggish Furniture Sales Beemer - Many Retailers In Free Fall After Disappointing December August Retail Sales Surge; Home Furnishings, Accessories Lag behind Expert Predicts Back-to-School Spending to Grow Meagerly in 2007 Retail Shopping Takes A Holiday Early Indications Are For A Frugal First Quarter Independent Retailers Outperformed Chain Stores In December Britt Beemer Lowers Forecast of Christmas Retail Sales to 2.7% Rise Over Last Year; Lack of “Must Have” Item to Blame Want To Drive Shoppers Away? Decorate Stores Less and Don’t Say “Merry Christmas” 2006 Q4 Shoppers Study Revealing; Cyber Monday a Hoax, Biggest Retail Push Will Be After December 15th 10 Trends For Retail Christmas 2006 Survey; Parents Cite High Gas Prices As Primary Reason For Limiting Back To School Spending Families Reduce Summer Spending As Gas Prices Rise Or Was It? New Survey Casts Doubt On Rosie Black Friday Survey; Bargain Hunters Drive June Results Top 10 Retail Stores For April; Discounts Drive Traffic Survey Says Americans Extremely Optimist About The Future 37% Of Shoppers Noticed Less Christmas Decorations In Stores; Spent Less As A Result America’s Research Group; Shopping Levels Increasing But Still Expected To Be Lackluster 3.2% Over 2003 Lack Of Hot New Product Weighing Heavily On Holiday Shopping Survey Of Thanksgiving Weekend Shoppers; "We're Not Impressed"; 45% Say Discounts Not Enough Britt Beemer’s Christmas 2004 Sales Forecast; 19% Will Spend More Since Bush Was Reelected Seven Things Your Store’s Appearance Tells Your Customers Britt Beemer Cites Convenience As Key To Drawing Male Shoppers Beemer Lowers Christmas Sales Projection to 4.2% Increase This Year Compared To His Earlier 4.8% Sales Increase survey 31.0% of Americans Who Planned to Shop Thanksgiving Weekend Did Not Get Around To It Study Shows 11% Increase In Consumer Spending For Appliance, Electronics, Computers Britt Beemer Predicts 4.8% Increase In Holiday Spending survey Furniture Leads All Categories For Shopping Levels Over Labor Day Weekend survey Consumers Plan to Spend 10% More on Back to School Furniture Buying Index Up One Point Buying furniture is on consumers’ minds, but not a top priority Shopping Is Not a Big Priority for Many Americans The Incredible Shrinking Customer Base How Loyal is Your Customer? The Loyalty American Consumers Have Towards Brand Products

Best Buy was one of the chains that ignored outward signs of the holiday season. When asked for the Consumer Mind Reader if they would have shopped Best Buy had they known the store didn’t decorate or allow employees to say Merry Christmas, only four in nine said they would have shopped anyway.

Retail sales were up in December, 2006 over last Christmas, but the big losers in the end-of-the-year holiday shopping frenzy were retail chain stores, according to the latest Consumer Mind Reader survey conducted by America's Research Group (ARG).

Nationwide sales were up six percent overall from 2005 December sales, and comparative store averages grew by three percent. But in our survey of 1,000 shoppers across the country, only five of the 25 retail categories we survey showed increases in both the number of shoppers and the amount of their purchases over the previous Christmas. More consumers said they shopped sporting goods stores, furniture stores, musical instrument stores, jewelry stores and outlet mall/factory outlet stores than in December, 2005, and their spending levels were also higher in these stores.

Consumers clearly shifted away from chain stores to independent retailers for Christmas shopping in 2006.

"I believe, and our research confirms, that the reason consumers abandoned the big box stores in favor of independent retailers is that many of the chains adopted policies of not decorating their stores for the Christmas holidays and would not allow employees to wish shoppers a Merry Christmas," said C. Britt Beemer, CEO and founder of America's Research Group.

America’s Research Group conducts national shopping surveys each weekend in December prior to Christmas, and in our December 16-17 survey, 38.8 percent of shoppers complained that stores they visited were not decorated for the holidays as they had been in prior years (see story). This was obviously a major concern among shoppers, and one in five said they wouldn’t shop the stores again that refused to acknowledge the Christmas holiday.

Best Buy was one of the chains that ignored outward signs of the holiday season. When asked for the Consumer Mind Reader if they would have shopped Best Buy had they known the store didn’t decorate or allow employees to say Merry Christmas, only four in nine said they would have shopped anyway. An almost equal number – 39 percent – said they would not have made the effort to shop Best Buy had they known in advance that the store would not be spruced up for the holiday.

Chain stores should take heed in their planning for next Christmas promotions. Political correctness can be costly and the cost will almost certainly come in the form of lost sales. Consumers still want to shop in stores brightly decorated to reflect the season, and they want to hear Merry Christmas when they hand over their shopping dollars.