• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 6, 2011

Call it the Christmas that fizzled. When people stormed into stores in November, retailers thought they could count on that enthusiasm to last until the ball dropped, but shoppers had other ideas: December's sales numbers aren't as healthy as many had hoped.  

Despite strong gains for some -- including luxury chains like Saks and Nordstrom -- and positive results for department stores, there were still some major letdowns.

Target, for example, says its comparable-store sales gained just 1%, below expectations. "Strength in grocery and apparel was offset by softness in electronics, toys and some home categories," Gregg Steinhafel, chairman/CEO, says in the company's release. "Sales in some key gift-giving categories moved earlier into the holiday season, and lower-margin items drove a higher portion of sales than expected."

And at Gap, sales fell 3%. "After a strong start to the holiday season in November, sales and traffic trends for our brands were less consistent in December," Sabrina Simmons, the chain's CFO, says in its release, with sales at its Gap stores falling 8%, Old Navy falling 2%, and Banana Republic gaining 1%.

Overall, retail same-store sales gained 3.2% in December -- much weaker than the 5.6% gain last month, but still up a bit from the 3% gain in December of 2009, reports Kantar Retail. The Columbus, Ohio-based consulting firm, noted that November's great in-store deals robbed spending from December, and that shoppers -- in part encouraged by lousy weather -- were more likely to shop online in December. The International Council of Shopping Centers, which tracks a slightly different group of stores, says its index rose 3.1% year-over-year.

Based on broader measures, though, results are more encouraging. The ICSC says that the traditional two-month (November-December) holiday shopping season gained by 3.8% -- the best two-month gain since 2006.

While department store gains were smaller than expected, they were still positive. Same-store sales advanced 3.9% at both Macy's and Kohl's. And at JCPenney, same-store sales rose by 3.7%, with fine jewelry and women's accessories reporting the strongest results.

And luxury retailers fared even better: Saks says its sales gained 11.8%, fueled by big gains in women's and men's apparel, shoes, handbags, and cosmetics. And at Nordstrom, sales climbed 8.4%.