Shoppers walk past an H&M location, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in New York. This holiday season is shaping up to be the weakest since the country was in the middle of a deep recession in 2008. That not only shows that stores misread Americans' willingness to spend during this period of economic uncertainty. It also could indicate that the days of throngs of shoppers spending thousands of dollars willy nilly on holiday gifts may be long gone. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Shoppers navigate their way around Toys R Us in Times Square Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in New York. This holiday season is shaping up to be the weakest since the country was in the middle of a deep recession in 2008. That not only shows that stores misread Americans' willingness to spend during this period of economic uncertainty. It also could indicate that the days of throngs of shoppers spending thousands of dollars willy nilly on holiday gifts may be long gone. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Shoppers navigate their way around Toys R Us in Times Square Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in New York. This holiday season is shaping up to be the weakest since the country was in the middle of a deep recession in 2008. That not only shows that stores misread Americans' willingness to spend during this period of economic uncertainty. It also could indicate that the days of throngs of shoppers spending thousands of dollars willy nilly on holiday gifts may be long gone. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Shoppers navigate their way around Toys R Us in Times Square Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, in New York. This holiday season is shaping up to be the weakest since the country was in the middle of a deep recession in 2008. That not only shows that stores misread Americans' willingness to spend during this period of economic uncertainty. It also could indicate that the days of throngs of shoppers spending thousands of dollars willy nilly on holiday gifts may be long gone. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, photo, a passengers reacts as she talks on her phone at Midway airport in Chicago. A massive winter storm is disrupting travel plans for tens of thousands of fliers trying to get home after Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Snow, thunderstorms, sleet, tornados and high winds have grounded planes in the nation's midsection and are expected to slow operations on the East Coast. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, a passengers reacts as she talks on her phone at Midway airport in Chicago. A massive winter storm is disrupting travel plans for tens of thousands of fliers trying to get home after Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Snow, thunderstorms, sleet, tornados and high winds have grounded planes in the nation's midsection and are expected to slow operations on the East Coast. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, a passengers reacts as she talks on her phone at Midway airport in Chicago. A massive winter storm is disrupting travel plans for tens of thousands of fliers trying to get home after Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Snow, thunderstorms, sleet, tornados and high winds have grounded planes in the nation's midsection and are expected to slow operations on the East Coast. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, file photo, a passengers reacts as she talks on her phone at Midway airport in Chicago. A massive winter storm is disrupting travel plans for tens of thousands of fliers trying to get home after Christmas on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Snow, thunderstorms, sleet, tornados and high winds have grounded planes in the nation's midsection and are expected to slow operations on the East Coast. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Bargain-hungry Americans will need to go on a post-Christmas spending binge to salvage this holiday shopping season. Despite the huge discounts and other incentives that stores offered leading up to Christmas, U.S. holiday sales so far this year have been the weakest since 2008, when …