Business

DROP ANCHORS

Wall Street staged a post-Christmas clearance on department-store stocks yesterday, as weak holiday spending data stoked investor fears that the women’s clothing business stayed sluggish through the end of the season.

Shares of big mall anchors – including Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Bon-Ton, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, and Saks – were hit yesterday following a report by MasterCard Advisors that holiday sales rose just 3.6 percent – near the low end of the research firm’s expectations.

The report – which excluded results from big discounters and warehouse clubs – noted that sales of women’s apparel declined 2.4 percent.

That’s better than the 5.7 percent drop seen mid-season. But Michael McNamara, a vice president at MasterCard Advisors, said a last-minute flurry of shopping was driven by heavy markdowns that will eat into department stores’ profits for the crucial fourth quarter.

Recent weakness at Penney – which has won praise for updated fashions that in recent quarters had bucked the sluggish trends seen at many rivals – signals that discretionary spending on apparel has been hurt broadly by a weak economy, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a New Canaan, Conn., consultant.

Grappling with soaring gasoline prices, a stumbling housing market and a credit crisis, mothers this holiday put off buying clothes for themselves in order to snatch up hot toys and videogames for their children.

But it also hasn’t helped that clothing fashions this year have been lackluster, with no notable trends to drive fresh shopping sprees, Johnson said.

Customer service has been a problem at department stores, too, as chains have cut back staff this year in order to preserve profits amid lukewarm sales, said Britt Beemer, president of America’s Research Group, a Charleston, SC, consultant. He singles out Macy’s for understaffed stores and overpriced merchandise.

“If people can’t get help in department stores, why would they give you a 10 to 20 percent premium to shop there?” Beemer said.

Shares of Macy’s – whose officials couldn’t be reached for comment – hit a 52-week low of $25.25 yesterday be fore settling at $25.95, off 3.9 per cent on the day.

Shares of Penney and Nordstrom fell 3.1 percent and 3 percent, respec tively.

Penney officials declined to comment, and Nordstrom spokesman Michael Boyd wouldn’t comment on the health of the company’s holiday sales overall. But Boyd noted that Nordstrom’s sales were strong in women’s shoes, handbags, pricey jeans and cashmere.

“We’re well-positioned for the spring,” Boyd added.

It wasn’t just depart ment-store shareholders that got a lump of coal for Christmas.

Hip discounter Target said its December com parable sales could de cline as much as 1 per cent, versus its earlier forecast for an increase of up to 5 percent. Target shares fell 2.5 percent to $51.16.

james.covert@nypost.com