Stores gear up for post-Christmas rush

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BILL RADKE: If you celebrate Christmas, this is a day for opening presents, not buying them. But for America’s retailers there’s always tomorrow. Marketplace’s Jill Barshay has our story.

JILL BARSHAY: Usually, retailers wait until after Christmas to promote post-holiday sales.

Dana Telsey says they started early this year. She tracks the retail sector at Telsey Advisory Group.

Dana Telsey: Yes, we’re even seeing some of the post-Christmas promotions being called out as early as this week.

JC Penny’s opening at 5 a.m. tomorrow. Wal-Mart says discounts on some products will be deeper than they were before the holidays.

But retailers kept low inventories this recession year.

Karen MacDonald is a spokesperson for Taubman, a mall owner. She says many stores ran out of items and customers had to buy gift cards yesterday.

Karen MacDonald: Some of the stores are already introducing spring merchandise and resort ware onto the floors this week because they just don’t have a lot of the winter merchandise left over.

She says shoppers in those stores may find 70 percent-off stickers are a remnant of post-Christmas past.

In New York, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.