Hawaii holiday
sales lagging,
report shows

Check purchases were down
1.5 percent over the same
10-day period of a year ago

Star-Bulletin staff

Holiday-season retail sales in Hawaii, measured by one indicator, slowed after the initial post-Thanksgiving rush, according to a leading national check-approval company.

Through the first 10 days of the season, sales in Hawaii were down 1.5 percent for the period Nov. 27 through Dec. 6, said TeleCheck Services.

Monitoring checks it accepted on behalf of the same stores as last year, TeleCheck initially reported sales in Hawaii up 1.2 percent for the first day of the Christmas rush, the day after Thanksgiving.

For the Friday through Sunday that followed Thanksgiving, check purchases at Hawaii retailers were up 3.4 percent. Now they have slowed enough to eliminate those advances and move down, TeleCheck said.

However, sales typically slow after the Thanksgiving weekend, before picking up again in the last seven to 10 days before Christmas, TeleCheck said. According to the National Council of Shopping Centers, the biggest day for retail sales last year was Dec. 20.

By TeleCheck's measure, total U.S. retail sales for the 10 days after Thanksgiving were up 2.2 percent compared to the equivalent 10 days of last year.

TeleCheck says purchases by check typically accounts for one-third of all retail buying.