U.S. Holiday Sales Start Strong with 8.3% Increase Over the Weekend

The 2007 holiday retail season got off to a very strong start, bucking initial fears of lower sales, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corporation's National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), which released the estimate.

As an attempt to ensure that shoppers didn’t begin the shopping day at their competitors, some stores opened their doors as early as 4am. Holiday news reports across the country showed shoppers lining up, some even camping out, in the very early morning hours to be the first ones in the stores.

But it wasn’t just Americans hitting the streets early. With a weakening dollar, many stores reported a high presence of European buyers taking advantage of the combination of a strong Euro and holiday specials before heading back home.

Long lines were especially noted at electronics and toy stores, where shoppers were looking for anything from the new iPhones to long-time favorites like Tickle Me Elmo.

The NRF is predicting a 4 percent rise in retail holiday sales this year, while Ernst & Young analysts expect an increase closer to 4.5 percent.

IDEX Online Research is forecasting a 3 percent growth in jewelry sales.