Albany, N.Y. (AP) – A trade group representing thousands of retailers across New York state says store owners are giving the holiday shopping season a "B'' grade.
The Retail Council of New York State says 58 percent of retailers surveyed by the organization said their week-before-Christmas sales were better than or the same as their sales for the same week in 2011.
Sales during the two days after Christmas were hampered by a storm that dumped more than a foot of snow on some upstate areas, but retailers are hopeful that gift card redemptions will give stores a boost this weekend.
Twenty-nine percent of retailers say the fiscal cliff debate in Washington impacted their holiday sales, followed by 19 citing Superstorm Sandy and another 18 percent mentioning the Connecticut school massacre.
