Heading into the last two days of the Christmas shopping season, retailers have a mixed outlook about the holiday season, which traditionally is the busiest shopping period in the year.

The state's largest department store chain, Liberty House Stores, said it is enjoying a busy holiday season thanks to "double-digit" sales increases this weekend from the year earlier period, Barbara Tunno, the retailer's vice president of marketing, said today. She declined to give specifics.

Liberty House attributed its increased sales to heavier promotions. "We were very aggressive this season and it's now paying off," Tunno said.

Sears, which operates six department stores statewide, said its holiday sales matched last year's record volume but were below projections.

Kevin Martin, general manager of Sear's Ala Moana Center, said the chain had expected sales increases of 6 percent to 7 percent this season from last year after November sales showed a strong gain. But despite a busy weekend, sales were generally slower in December due to consumers' anxieties about the isle economy, Martin said. "We really were expecting a little more but that didn't happen."

Many isle shopkeepers shared those concerns.

With the sluggish Hawaii's economy and a shortened holiday season, many expect business to be flat or even slightly down this year, Jan Berman, president of the 170-member Retail Merchants of Hawaii, said Friday. Berman noted that holiday retail sales last year generally were soft.

A study by TeleCheck Services, a large check acceptance company, said that between Thanksgiving and Dec. 15 check transactions were up a modest 3.4 percent, compared with a 5 percent gain nationwide. Check transactions represent about a third of all retail transactions, according to the Houston-based company.

"It's not a great season," Berman said. "We're getting the people in the stores but their spending habits are different."

To attract more traffic, many retailers took to aggressive sales promotions and many offered additional services to get the shoppers in their doors, she said. "The thrust is to make shopping easier for the customer."

That includes extended hours, heavier advertising and extra discounts. Some shopping centers offered services such as shuttle buses for shoppers who had to park off grounds or shopping guides who assisted customers with store and mall activity information.

The focus on customers' needs has paid off for one big retailer. Sports Authority's sales through last week were very strong thanks to healthy local and visitor traffic, said Omar Segura, the company's district manager for Hawaii.

Segura said that the retailer has paid special attention to its customers by stressing outdoor sports products such as camping gear and surf wear for local customers.

Windward Mall, meanwhile, said sales by its anchor tenants for November and most of December are well ahead of last year. Sandi Oguma, the Kaneohe center's marketing director, said the key was an early start.

Typically, the state's retail business slows in October with the end of the back-to-school shopping. But this year, Windward Mall managers began running special promotions and brought in more musical entertainment during October to build momentum into the holiday season, Oguma said today.

"We really tried to encourage early shopping," she said.