Signs point to somber holidays for retailers: Department stores face sharp slide, while prospects look bright for specialty merchants.

DEPARTMENT stores; WOMEN'S clothing stores; RETAIL industry; MERCHANTS; HOLIDAYS

Chicago-area merchants are bracing for glum holidays as anxious shoppers spend cautiously and online retailers grab more business from traditional stores. "Even before other retailers started doing this, we saw two or three years ago that we had to do something to compete with the online retailers of the world or department stores who are constantly running discounts", Lawson says. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Crain's Chicago Business is the property of Crain Communications Inc. (MI) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)