<p>The hustle and bustle of Christmas holiday shopping appeared to be taking a vacation early Friday morning, as bargain shoppers slowly trickled into Atlanta malls and discount retailers to return gifts and pick up bargains.</p><p>Nationally, retailers are counting even more heavily on the week after Christmas to meet their sales goals, as two consecutive snow storms in the Northeast, a lack of must-have items, a sluggish job market and a lack of bargains kept shoppers away from stores during the pre-Christmas season.</p><p>At an Atlanta Target, Jim Sampson was snapping up one item sure to be marked down on Dec. 26 _ Christmas lights.</p><p>The Wauchula, Fla., resident was just doing his job as a dad, he explained. He was buying the lights for his daughter that hes visiting for Christmas.</p><p>Im not much of a shopper. Im doing this for my daughter. Thats what dads are for, right? he said.</p><p>Sampson was among only a handful of other shoppers who wandered through Target as it opened at 7 a.m.</p><p>The scene was in sharp contrast to a Target in Columbus, Ohio, where shoppers started lining up outside the store at 6:30 a.m. By the time the store opened a half-hour later, about 100 people were at the stores two entrances.</p><p>Even by 8:30 a.m., the Atlanta Target wasnt seeing enough business to cause lines at the checkouts.</p><p>However, Lake Brown, of Atlanta, was there, stocking up on what he called his one vice _ chocolate. Loading a half dozen shopping bags full of the candy into his car trunk, he showed off a receipt that was chocked full of chocolate _ from M&Ms to Ghirardelli _ all purchased at half-off for the bargain price of $212.</p><p>Its one of the best chocolate buying days of the year, along with the day after Halloween, he said.</p><p>Over at a mall, things were busier, but parking spots were still plentiful first thing Friday morning.</p><p>Jim Jankowski, whos normally an early riser, was at the Richs-Macy department store at Lenox Square Mall shortly after 7 a.m., three hours before the store typically opens for business.</p><p>Jankowski wasnt taking advantage of the discounts of up to 75 percent or the mens shirts that were 25 percent off.</p><p>Instead, he remedying a slight misstep with a dress he bought for his wife.</p><p>I got the wrong size for my wife, he said. Since he was awake early anyhow, he decided to duck in and duck out of the mall and quickly exchange the dress for the correct size.</p><p>This holiday season, high-end stores such as Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom have enjoyed robust sales, while mid-priced department stores have fared the worst. Even discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have struggled with muted sales gains, as lower-income consumers still havent benefited from the economic recovery.</p><p>Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research at the International Council of Shopping Centers, said that same-store sales growth for the combined November-December period is currently tracking a little bit below his reduced 4 percent forecast, a figure that was reduced from 4.5 percent.</p><p>Still, even if holiday same-store sales come in a bit below those trimmed projections, Niemira said it would still be the biggest gain since 1999, when he tallied a 5.4 percent increase.</p><p>Same-store sales _ or sales at stores open at least a year _ are considered the best indicator of a retailers health.</p><p>C. Britt Beemer, chairman of Americas Research Group, based in Charleston, S.C., said post-holiday sales will only help stores that are close to meeting their goals.</p><p>If theyre far behind, you cant have one week making up for the rest of the season, he said.</p><p>Clearly, the week after Christmas has become increasingly important. A year ago, that period accounted for 11.8 percent of holiday sales, up from 10.6 percent in 2001. This year, the nations retailers are counting on the period to make up for an even bigger share, betting on consumers returning to the malls to redeem their gift cards and buy more merchandise.</p><p>___</p><p>Dave Bryan in Atlanta contributed to this report.</p>
