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November 30, 2009

Christmas reading ranges from whodunits to kids to tales of festivity survival

Filed under: tiffany — Tags: — admin @ 7:15 pm

There are lots of things that say Christmas:silver jewellery Trees, cookies, parties and presents, for example. But murder mysteries? Who knew?

Publishers did.

Sales of author Anne Perry’s mystery stories appeared to plateau a few years back. But when the author put out a Christmas novel in 2005, sales shot up, said Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company on Milwaukee’s east side.

Mystery writers now join novelists, yarn-spinners and memoirists in expounding on the season.

Here’s a roundup of some of this year’s new holiday titles, from graphic novels to Victorian mysteries to how-to and children’s books.

Unexpected Xmas authors

–”The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays,” edited by earrings Michele Clarke and Taylor Plimpton (Abrams Books, $15.95)

Cynical anthology from writers including John Waters, Charles Bukowski, Dave Barry and Hunter S. Thompson. For those who believe that the best spirits of the season come in a bottle.

–”You Better Not Cry,” by Augusten Burroughs (St. Martin’s Press, $21.99)

His childhood wasn’t so cheery, so it stands to reason that his holidays weren’t brimming with happiness, either.

–”Matchless,” by Gregory MaGuire (HarperCollins, $19.99)

The author of “Wicked” puts his spin on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Match Girl” to celebrate the season.

Graphic-novel greetings

All are $14.99 from HarperCollins.

–”A Kidnapped Santa Claus”: Alex Robinson adapts the L. Frank Baum story.

–”The Fir-Tree”: Comics author Lilli Carre’s take on the Hans Christian key rings Andersen tale.

–”The Gift of the Magi”:

Joel Priddy gives his view of O. Henry’s famous tale.

Christmas chick lit

–”The Christmas Cookie Club,” by Ann Pearlman (Atria Books, $24.99)

Women bond over life and over cookies.

–”Knit the Season,” by Kate Jacobs (Fantastic Fiction, $24.95)

Third book in the Friday Night Knitting Club Series is set in Scotland.

–”A Christmas Promise,” by Anne Perry (Fantastic Fiction, $18)

The seventh book in her series of Victorian Christmas necklaces novellas.

Winter wonderlands

–”A Christmas Blizzard,” by Garrison Keillor (Penguin Group, $21.95)

Rich man finds the true meaning of Christmas in a South Dakota blizzard.

–”The Gift,” by Cecelia Ahern (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Ahern, the co-creator of TV’s “Samantha Who?” takes on the season.

–”Wishin’ and Hopin’: A Christmas Story,” by Wally Lamb (HarperCollins, $19.99)

Lamb, famous for “She’s Come Undone,” turns back the clock to Christmas, 1960s style.

–”Christmas Memories: Gifts, Activities, Fads and Fancies, 1920s-1960s,” by Susan Waggoner (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $17.95)

If you ever wondered how the characters on “Mad Men” might have celebrated Christmas, it’s in here.

Murder meets mistletoe

–”Decked with Folly,” by Kate Kingsbury (Berkley Publishing Group, $14)

Holiday season at the Pennyfoot Hotel includes death in a duck pond.

–”Holiday Grind,” by Cleo Coyle (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

After seven stories in the coffeehouse mystery series, authors Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini (a.k.a. Cleo Coyle) set this one during Christmas cookie season. Recipes included.

–”Mrs. Jeffries & the Yuletide Weddings,” by Emily Brightwell (Berkley Publishing Group, $23.95)

Two weddings, the Christmas holiday and a murder. It’s a trifecta.

God is in the details

–”The Christmas Glass,” by Marci Alborghetti (Guideposts, $15.99)

The latest from Alborghetti, famous for her faith-themed books, is being compared Tiffany Accessories to 1995’s wildly popular “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans.

–”Santa Miracles,” by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger (Adams Media, $12.95)

Think “Chicken Soup for the Jolly Old Soul” for this collection of Santa stories.

–”Christmas Traditions: True Stories that Celebrate the Spirit of the Season,” edited by Helen Szymanski (Adams Media, $10.95)

Writers share their purposeful and accidental traditions from the season.

Holiday kid lit

–”Fly, Santa, Fly,” by Betty Ann Schwartz, illustrated by Steve Cox (Sterling Publishing, $9.95)

Geared to infants and preschoolers, it lets kids control Santa’s flight with a lenticular disc.

–”A Pussycat’s Christmas,” by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated Anne Mortimer (HarperCollins, $9.99)

Beautiful photos ask the questions: Can cats hear snow, smell Christmas trees or celebrate the holiday? Answers inside.

–”Secret Santa,” illustrated by Simone Abel with design and paper engineering by Richard Jewitt (Sterling Publishers, $16.95)

Follow the letter exchange between Santa and a fan with stunning pop-ups that tell the story of the North Pole.

–”Horrid Henry’s Christmas,” by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (SourcebooksTiffany Keys, $4.99)

Nothing says Christmas like a story that includes Pimply Paul.

–”The Great Reindeer Rebellion,” by Lisa Trumbauer, illustrated by Jannie Ho (Sterling Publishers, $14.95)

Turns out elephants don’t make good replacements when reindeer strike at the North Pole.

RETAILERS EXPECT A GRINCH-LIKE CHRISTMAS, SAYS UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO RETAIL EXPERT

Filed under: Money Clip, christmas, cufflinks — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:49 pm

The University at Buffalo issued the following press release:

Unfortunately for retailers, the Grinch will be pushing the tiffany jewelry shopping cart again this holiday season, says Arun Jain, Samuel P. Capen Professor of Marketing Research in the University at Buffalo School of Management.

“This year is likely to be a repeat of 2008 with the same winners and losers. A gloomy employment picture, restricted availability of credit and continued uncertainty regarding the stock market are likely to spoil the mood for Christmas shopping,” Jain says.

According to Jain, households plan to spend the same amount or less than last year on holiday shopping. The focus will be on essential household items, like cookware and basic clothing. High-priced items like jewelry tend to lose their luster in these difficult economic times, he says.

“Those with extra cash have already spent it on flat-panel TVs and cheap laptops by HP, Dell and Acer,” says Jain. “Worse still, no radical electronics goods like iPhone, Nintendo’s Wii or Blue-Ray are being offered this year. The incremental technology offering Internet connectivity is not going to help. The only electronic cufflinks gadgets worthy vying for are the electronic book readers being offered by Amazon, Sony and others, but these have been around for a while and are not exactly setting fire to consumer demands.”

Jain contends that the fashion industry has not been of much help, either. “Fall fashion trends are uneven and there is no ‘must have’ style to encourage shoppers to break their piggy banks,” he says. “The same story holds for toys – most are ho-hum and there is nothing that will set toy aisles on fire.”

Retailers are already responding to the gloomy outlook, according to Jain. “Wal-Mart, to preserve its dominant position in such a depressing economy, is focusing on low-priced items such as toys for under $10. Sales, price cuts and promotions will be used by discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Sears and TJ Max to steal market shares,” he says. “Other big beneficiaries will be online stores like Amazon that offer branded merchandise at attractive prices, often saving buyers sales tax and the need to travel to stores.”

Jain predicts that competition among stores will be fierce as they battle to grab whatever market share they can get in this depressed market. “As early as Halloween, we’ve see ‘value-priced’ merchandise on display, and consumers have been bombarded with promotions, coupons, lay away and interest-free credits to nab sales,” he money clips says.

The Wall Street Journal has ranked the UB School of Management No. 9 in the nation among schools with strong regional recruiting bases. In addition, BusinessWeek has ranked the school as one of the country’s top 5 business schools for the fastest return on MBA investment, and Forbes has cited it as one of the best business schools in the U.S. for the return on investment it provides MBA graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit http://mgt.buffalo.edu.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

Jacqueline Ghosen, 716/645-2833, ghosen@buffalo.edu.

November 29, 2009

Auburn hosting Christmas open house

Filed under: bangles, necklaces — Tags: , — admin @ 6:46 pm

The Auburn Merchants plan to have a “Dickens of a Christmas tiffany” this weekend with their annual Christmas open house.

The event, which will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, will include a variety of activities, including demonstrations by artisans and craftsmen, a performance of different acts of the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol” at various shops, string quartets, church choirs and strolling carolers.

Following the last act of “A Christmas Carol” on Saturday, a high tea will be available at Federal Grove Bed & Breakfast. Tickets are $5.95 and are available at participating merchants. Free transportation will be provided from downtown to the locations of the last three acts.

Activities will include the following:

Friday

Artisans and craftsmen will conduct demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. necklaces at the shops.

–T-shirt screen printing by LeAnn Meguiar at Meguiar Printing

–Artists Sonny Green and Dale Young at Almost New Shop

–Chair caning by Margaret Fitzgerald at Lion & Lamb Antiques

–Oil lamp problem solutions by Jim McBride at Lion & Lamb Antiques

–Bow making by Helen Chyle at Unique Designs

–Inexpensive Christmas gifts by Patricia Farmer at Yard Sale Shop

–Garden items by Brenda Fuller at On the Square

Saturday

–10 a.m. — Master woodworker Lewis Chapman at Almost New Shop

–11 a.m. — “Scrooge in his Counting House” at Almost New Shop

–11:45 a.m. — “The Ghost of Jacob Marley” at Lion & Lamb Antiques

–12:30 p.m. — “The Ghost of Christmas Past” at City Hall bangles Council Chambers

–1:15 p.m. — “The Ghost of Christmas Present” at Colonial House Furniture

–2 p.m. — “The Ghost of Christmas Future” at Countryside Bake Shop

–2:45 p.m. — “Christmas Day” at Federal Grove Bed & Breakfast

CHRISTMAS TREE PERMITS NOW ON SALE

Filed under: christmas, earrings, pendants — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:37 pm

Christmas tree permits are on sale for $5 each at all Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest ranger stations and the forest headquarters. Each permit allows a family to cut one tree, with a tree height limit of 15 feet, or dig a small live transplant tree. Permits may be purchased in person or by mail and are limited to tiffany jewelry two permits per family. The permits are non-refundable.

When venturing out into the cold and snowy hills in pursuit of a Christmas tree, here are some hints to help make your trip a safe one:

1. Before leaving home, notify a friend or family member where you will be going and when you will return. Then, stick to your plan and let your contact person know when you have returned.

2. Consider carefully your clothing, equipment, and vehicle needs, making certain they are adequate for the worst conditions you might encounter. If planning to drive over snow-covered roads, a high-clearance vehicle may be best, and don’t forget to carry tire chains and a shovel.

3. ALWAYS check out the avalanche hazard before leaving home.

4. Start out early in the day so that you have enough daylight to be able to choose that “perfect” tree.

5. Be familiar with the area that you plan to visit.

6. Carry extra clothing, food, and tools in your vehicle for those unexpected mishaps that money clips may occur.

7. Christmas tree permits may be placed on the driver’s side dashboard in lieu of a Northwest Forest Pass when parking at a trailhead. However, once enough snow accumulates and selected trailhead parking areas convert to Sno-Parks, you must have a valid Washington State Sno-Park permit displayed on your windshield when parking at any State Sno-Park.

For those who can’t make it into any of our offices during daily business hours many local businesses are also selling Christmas tree permits.

* In Wenatchee, tree permits are available at Hooked on Toys and Arlberg Sports. * In Chelan, permits can be bought at the Chelan Shell Foodmart gas station. * The Entiat Food Center in Entiat is also selling Christmas tree permits. * In the Lake Wenatchee area, Parkside Grocery, Midway Village and Plain Hardware have permits for sale. * In Leavenworth, tree permits are available at Dan’s Food Market, the 76 gas station and Shell Village Mercantile. * In the Cle Elum and Ellensburg areas Christmas tree permits can be purchased at Roslyn Cyclery, Pioneer Coffee, Intermountain Radio Shack, Morning Star Chevron/Deli and Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce. * Christmas tree permits are available at the following locations in the Naches Ranger District area: * Eagle Rock Grocery, Whistlin’ Jacks Resort and Rimrock Grocery Store on State Route 410 * Helms True Value Hardware and Save-On Foods in Selah * Oak Creek Ace Hardware and Slim’s Market in Naches * KOA Campground at Squaw Rock * Vendors selling Christmas tree permits in Okanogan County include: * Chevron Station in Okanogan * The General Store in Conconully * The Junction Mini Mart in Tonasket * Carlton General Store pendants in Carlton * Twisp Chevron gas station, Hank’s Market and Hank’s Mini Market in Twisp * Pardners Mini Market in Winthrop

For more information about Christmas tree permits please contact any Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest office. These offices are open Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Our offices will be closed on the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Forest Service offices may also close early the day before these holidays, so call ahead for operating hours.

Chelan Ranger District, 428 W. Woodin Ave., Chelan WA 98816; 509-682-4900

Cle Elum Ranger District, 803 W. 2nd Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922; 509-852-1100

Entiat Ranger District, physical address 2108 Entiat Way, mailing address P.O. Box 476 Entiat, WA 98822; 509-784-1511

Methow Valley Ranger District, 24 West Chewuch Road, Winthrop, WA 98862; 509-996-4000

Naches Ranger District, 10237 Hwy. 12, Naches, WA 98937; 509-653-1401

Okanogan Valley Office, 1240 South Second Ave., Okanogan, WA 98840; 509-826-3275

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Headquarters office, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, earrings WA 98801; 509-664-9200

Tonasket Ranger District, 1 W. Winesap, Tonasket, WA 98855; 509-486-2186

Wenatchee River Ranger District-Leavenworth office, 600 Sherbourne, Leavenworth, WA 98826; 509-548-2550

Wenatchee River Ranger District-Lake Wenatchee office, CLOSED during the winterFor more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

Robin DeMario, 509/664-9292.

November 27, 2009

Christmas party to support diabetes research

Filed under: bangles, rings — Tags: , — admin @ 6:59 pm

Take a horse and carriage ride as you start the holiday season with a tour of the christmas gift Hope House, 4418 S. Lewis Place in the GreenHill Addition.

Set from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, the tour and activities surrounding it will raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

In addition to the carriage rides, you can have photos taken with Santa and enjoy a sale of Christmas finery and holiday gifts.

Tickets are $10 per person, and children under 12 are admitted free of charge.

Tickets are on sale at the JDRF Office, Fortnight and Walter & Associates tiffany bangles Realtors.

For more information, call 481-5807.

Sponsors include Walter & Associates Realtors; Tony Domeck, Illuminations Lighting and Lawn Service; Sondra Reeves, Catcher of Dreams; Lynne Bischoff, Fortnight; Tulsa National Bank; Peter Walter; B’Howlin Graphics; Norberg/IES; the Drotar Family, J.D. Young and Susan Coman.

JDRF was founded in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, a disease that strikes children, adolescents and adults suddenly, makes them insulin-dependent for life and carries the threat of complications.

Since its inception, JDRF has provided more than $1.2 billion for diabetes research tiffany rings worldwide.

More than 85 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and research-related education.

JDRF’s mission is to find a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications through the support of research.

Children line up at mall to whisper a Christmas wish

Filed under: earrings, pendants, tiffany — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:53 pm

From his perch on an avocado green couch at Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall, tiffany jewelry Santa Claus rattled off his most popular gift requests from children this winter: dogs, horses, and the latest gadgets and electronics.

There was a more unusual request from one little boy — a vacuum.

“At least we know someone’s going to get help around the house,” Santa said.

Santa took up residence at the mall a few days ago and will be posing for pictures and pendants listening to wish lists through Christmas.

A line of those waiting to sit on his lap and share their Christmas wishes didn’t take long to form.

Some children were squirmy, like 18-month-old Michael Anderson, who slid out of Santa’s lap twice. On the third try his mother, Michelle, was able to get a photo.

Others sat shyly next to Santa while they asked for Nintendo games and dolls.

Four-year-old Bryce Bramble has big dreams of what Santa should put under his earrings Christmas tree.

What did he ask for?

“I can’t remember, there were so many things,” he said.

November 26, 2009

McManus tops CdA’s ?Books for Christmas’

Filed under: bangles, necklaces, rings — Tags: , , — admin @ 7:22 pm

Patrick F. McManus will be the headlining author in “Books for christmas gift” at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library on Thursday from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

A dozen authors will introduce and sign their books at this yearly event, sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Chapter of the Idaho Writers League.

McManus will have a number of his books available, including his most recent, “The Double-Jack Murders.”

Other participating authors include Boots Reynolds, Nikki Arana, Larry Telles, Elizabeth Brinton, George Brinkman, Mike Kincaid, Nancy Owens Barnes, Michael Marsden, Maryn Langer, Charles Lyons and Gary Edwards.

Admission is free and autographed copies of the authors’ books will be on sale.

Reminder: McManus will also read at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., on Nov. 22 at 12:30 p.m.

A lyrical Edwards event

Speaking of Gary Edwards, he’ll be reading at Auntie’s on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Did we say “reading”? That doesn’t quite cover the scope of this event. Edwards is necklaces a local poet, composer and lyricist, so he’ll also recite and sing.

His most recent books are “TroubleClef: Life of a North Idaho Musician,” which contains poems and lyrics, and “The Gallery,” a volume of poetry.

A Free Speech book

With all of the attention given to Spokane’s 1909 Free Speech Fight on its centennial, we’d like to bring to your attention local author-historian Dale Raugust’s self-published book, “Fanning the Flames of Discontent: Spokane’s Free Speech Fight.”

The book is available through Amazon. Raugust also has another self-published history book available on Amazon, “The Northwest Inland Empire: Native History and Early Settlements.”

Raugust practiced law for 30 years in Spokane before turning to history. Just go to the Amazon Web site and search under his name.

Auntie’s Angel Tree

The Auntie’s Bookstore Angel Tree will soon be dominating the main floor, as it has for tiffany bangles 13 years.

It’s a large tree decorated with 300 paper angels containing the names of local children. You can purchase a book to donate to one of them.

The tree will go up after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, you can help out by donating to the Angel Tree Fund. Call (509) 838-0206 for details.

The Jess and Sherman Show

Here’s early warning of an upcoming Auntie’s event: Sherman Alexie and Jess Walter, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.

These two top Northwest novelists will appear together — and spar entertainingly, no doubt — at this ticketed event. You can get a ticket simply by buying one of their books at Auntie’s.

David Thompson books

KSPS-7 will re-broadcast its fascinating documentary, “Uncharted Territory: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau” on Wednesday at 7 p.m., Friday at 11 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 2 p.m.

For those who want to learn more about this important trader-explorer, here are a few regional tiffany rings books to check out: “The Writings of David Thompson: The Travels,” edited by William E. Moreau (University of Washington Press); and “Sources of the River” (Sasquatch Books) and “The Mapmaker’s Eye” (Washington State University Press), both by Jack Nisbet.

November 25, 2009

Jacob Marley retells ‘Christmas Carol’ in Mad Hatt’r production

Filed under: key rings, necklaces — Tags: , — admin @ 7:04 pm

This is not the old, familiar “Christmas Carol. tiffany jewelry” Here, Scrooge moves over, and Jacob Marley tells his side of the ghost story.

Mad Hatt’r Theatre Co. will bring an uproarious holiday comedy to the community theater at Twin Falls’ senior center with its reading of “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol.” At 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 and 28, the readings will feature Magic Valley actors Michael Johnson, Tony Mannen, Billy Perry and Jud Harmon.

The senior center, at 530 Shoshone St. W., is across from Depot Grill.key rings Tickets are $5, available at the door.

“Scrooge? I have to redeem old Scrooge?” says Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge’s former partner. “The one man I knew who was worse than I was? Impossible!”

So begins the story behind the scenes of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” — the story of Jacob Marley’s heroic but hysterical efforts to save old Scrooge’s soul and, in the process, save his own. Aided by a Bogle, a malicious little hell-sprite with an agenda of his own, the journey takes them from the Jaws of Death to the Mouth of Hell.

Note to families:It’s an irreverent farce, and Mad Hatt’r caters to adult theater necklaces crowds.

“Jacob Marley’s Christ-mas Carol” played for two seasons at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, a Mad Hatt’r press release said. The show was nominated for four Joseph Jefferson Awards and received an After Dark Award and the Goodman School of Drama’s Cunningham Prize for Playwriting. The play has since been performed in bangles theaters across the country, and for seven seasons it has been broadcast nationally on NPR.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Filed under: bracelets, christmas — Tags: , — admin @ 6:53 pm

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

STARRING Jim Carrey

DIRECTED BY Robert Zemeckis

PG, 105 MINS.

When I was a kid, gathering around the tiffany and co TV set to watch one of the old movie adaptations of A Christmas Carol–the 1938 version starring Reginald Owen, or the 1951 remake with Alastair Sim–was as cozy and cherished a holiday ritual as watching It’s a Wonderful Life or (God help us, every one) A Christmas Story is today. So indelible is the toasty magic of those twin Dickens films that I have never had much use for any other Christmas Carol–like, say, all those family dinner-theater productions (“Judd Hirsch is Scrooge!”). So when it was announced that writer-director Robert Zemeckis would do a new version for Disney, using the same photo-realist, motion-capture animation technique that begot The Polar Express and all its eager rubber-faced children (and starring the reflexively ironic Jim Carrey as Scrooge), all I could think was, “Not for me.”

How wonderfully wrong I was! Disney’s A Christmas Carol is a marvelous and touching yuletide toy of a movie, and the miracle is that it goes right back to the gilded Victorian spirit of those black-and-white films of yore. From the hypnotic opening shot, which seems to travel through every nook and cranny tiffany bracelets of London without a cut, Zemeckis signals that he’s made a bold technical leap: The faces are now fully expressive, the streets and buildings so real you could touch them. Ebenezer, with his drooping flesh and coldly fearful eyes, is no caricature–Carrey plays him with scolding sharpness and a plummy deep melancholy–and his journey unfolds with a classicism that is only enhanced by Zemeckis’ spangly visual flamboyance. He makes the ghost of Marley, for instance, a figure of true terror. After this grisly bit of paranormal activity, we can see that Scrooge’s redemption has already begun.

A Christmas Carol, as Dickens wrote it, might almost be about the original case of psychotherapy, with the ghosts as shrinks who reveal to Scrooge the dynamic interior forces that shaped him. Zemeckis stages the familiar episodes briskly, with more jaunty showbiz than we’re used to–he uses Carrey and Gary Oldman in multiple roles–yet without sacrificing any emotion. The spirits have a spooky majesty (the Ghost of Christmas Past is a disembodied head of flame), and when Scrooge’s home gets turned into a roving hovercraft with an invisible floor that allows him to stare at his life, the sci-fi-ish conceit doesn’t distance us. It mirrors the dislocation of a man who is now dreaming with his eyes wide open. Zemeckis does hit one false note, dropping an incongruous “action tiffany cufflinks” scene into the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come episode. That’s the rare misstep, though, in a Christmas Carol that left me festive with delight, not to mention in dire need of a holiday hankie. A

November 24, 2009

J.C. Penney, Chain Stores Are Cautious About Christmas Demand

Filed under: christmas, earrings, key rings — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:57 pm

Retailers’ third-quarter results this week came with cautious outlooks for the fourth quarter, as consumer tiffany jewellery spending remains weak and the ghost of Christmas past looms large.

Analysts’ holiday sales estimates vary from a 1% decline to a nearly 3% gain over last year. That uncertainty, coupled with the highest unemployment rate since 1983 and disappointing consumer sentiment, means retailers “don’t know how Black Friday is going to be. They don’t know how December will be,” said Walter Loeb, president of retail consultancy Loeb Associates Inc.

On Friday, J.C. Penney Co. posted a 78% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit and offered a mixed view of its fourth quarter. It provided a wide estimate of potential profit and forecast a revenue drop larger than Wall Street estimates. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s Inc. also issued lower-than-expected guidance, citing the uncertain economy.

“Everybody is chastened by the experience of last year’s holiday debacle,” said Craig Johnson, president tiffany pendants of consultancy Customer Growth Partners.

Department store chains have been among the hardest-hit retailers, as budget-conscious shoppers traded down to discounters including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and TJX Cos.’ T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s. The sector as a whole has posted negative year-over-year sales every month for more than a year, according to Thomson Reuters.

The chains that posted results this week — including Penney, Macy’s, Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl’s — all managed to eke out gains in product-sales margins, aided by sharply lower inventories and operating costs.

On Friday, Penney reported its third-quarter margins had improved by 2.1 percentage points, benefiting from leaner inventories and fewer markdowns, even as overall sales fell. Although Penney’s stocks are in line with projected demand, Chief Executive Myron E. Ullman III sounded a cautious note in a Friday conference call. “Unemployment remains at high levels. Everybody is concerned about the equity value of their homes . . . and many consumers are seeing constriction and cancellation of their credit,” he said.

Suppliers also continue to voice caution. Eric Wiseman, chief executive of VF Corp., which owns Wrangler tiffany earrings, North Face and Vans, said while sales trends have improved over the past 90 days, “does it mean we’re in a recovery? I don’t think so. What happens over Christmas is unpredictable.”

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Penney, of Plano, Texas, posted a profit of $27 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $124 million, or 56 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest results included a pension expense of $73 million. Analysts were predicting 12 cents a share profit, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sales fell 3.2% to $4.12 billion while sales at stores open at least a year declined 4.6%.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. on Friday also reported a decline in fiscal third-quarter earnings on lower sales. It posted a profit tiffany key rings of $38.8 million, or 44 cents a share, down from $63.9 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue decreased 15% to $765.4 million on a 22% drop in same-store sales.

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