Major US retailers are hiring at least as many workers for the holiday season as last year, confounding forecasts of slow sales.
Sears, Roebuck & Co, Target Corp, Best Buy Co and the Macy's unit of Federated Department Stores Inc are among store groups that said they are staffing up for the holidays, which generate more than 40 percent of annual sales for some retailers.
"We're going into this with a positive attitude," said Linda Martin, head of hiring for the 101 Macy's stores on the US East Coast. "The consumer will buy gifts for Christmas; it's a question of where they'll go."
Some economic reports suggest holiday sales may be stronger than executives and economists thought as recently as a month ago.
Hiring enough stockers and clerks to keep merchandise flowing into shopping bags may be the right call. Taking on too many workers without generating additional sales to justify it may dent profits.
Boosting staff for the rush will be crucial for keeping customers in retail stores, analysts say. "People will walk if the line's too long," said Martin Bukoll, an analyst with Northern Trust Corp, whose US$320 billion in assets include shares of retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Consumers plan this year to increase their holiday spending 5 percent from a year ago to US$1,656 on average, American Express Co said today, based on a survey it conducted in October of 800 heads of households.
Better-than-forecast consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy, may boost fourth-quarter growth more than the 1.6 annual rate average estimate. October retail sales excluding autos rose 0.7 percent, the biggest jump in six months, the Commerce Department said. Consumer confidence rose in November for the first time in six months; incomes are rising faster than inflation; and low interest rates are encouraging spending.
Still, some retailers aren't optimistic. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retailer, expects November sales at stores open at least a year to rise as little as 2 percent, the low end of its forecast.
An AmEx survey found that 35 percent of Americans plan to shop for holiday gift items Nov. 29, the day after Thanksgiving, which is traditionally considered the start of the holiday retail season.
To handle the rush, Sears, the largest US department-store company, is hiring between 35,000 and 40,000 temporary employees, said Peggy Palter, a spokeswoman for Sears. That's consistent with previous years, she said. Sears has about 274,000 workers including its hardware and auto-repair stores, she said.
"We still expect people to be shopping during the holiday season," Palter said. "If we don't have employees there to serve them, we aren't going to get the sale."
"The consumer is in the best shape they've been in in a long time," said Robert Bender, head of Robert Bender & Associates, a Pasadena, California-based firm that manages US$250 million in assets and owns shares in several retailers.
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