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NEW YORK (AP) — This year, there's no item emerging as the must-have gift for the holiday season.
In the world of toys, anything "Star Wars"-related is doing well, as are robotic pets such as an interactive unicorn from Hasbro. But there's no runaway hit.
In fashion, jeans are making a comeback this holiday season. But overall, there's nothing that's making shoppers run to stores.
Heading into the Black Friday weekend, a lot of stores that normally do brisk sales of cold-weather clothing are finding that it's not selling as well this year. Unseasonably warm weather in much of the country has caused heavy sweaters and winter coats to pile up at department stores and specialty chains. Shoppers could find big discounts on some of those items.
You can expect some sticker shock in the toy department, as toy manufacturers pack lots of technology into them. One analyst found that the prices of what are expected to be the top-selling toys are nearly 36 percent higher than last year.
The CEO of Toys R Us notes that there are plenty of toys costing $100 or more.
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185-w-34-(Rita Foley, AP correspondent)--The holiday season is here, and we've noticed three shopping trends. AP correspondent Rita Foley. ((opens with music)) (25 Nov 2015)
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186-c-20-(Rita Foley, AP correspondent)-"almost one-hundred dollars"-AP correspondent Rita Foley reports on the not-so-hot trends. (25 Nov 2015)
<<CUT *186 (11/25/15)££ 00:20 "almost one-hundred dollars"
APPHOTO NYBZ152: FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, file photo, Tashalee Rodriguez, of Boston, uses a smartphone app while shopping at Macy's in downtown Boston. For the first time, analysts predict more than half of online traffic to retailer sites will come from smartphones than desktops during the busy Black Friday holiday shopping weekend. And though it's still a small fraction of online revenue, mobile sales are jumping too. Larger phone sizes, improved retailer apps, more online deals and shoppers' increasing comfort with shopping online are driving the trend. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File) (23 Nov 2012)
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