SPRINGFIELD, Va. - U.S. consumers are feeling the fear and keeping a tighter grip on their cash this holiday season.

According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending and durable goods orders fell further in November. And with five fewer shopping days before Christmas this year and awful weather nationally, many businesses are bracing for a visit from the Grinch instead of Santa.

Even with discounts up to 90 percent, retailer Raj Dua said people just aren't spending. He noted this year is the worst Christmas in 20 years for his business.

"It's come to the point where how much money are we going to pull from our pockets to keep our business going, it's going to get [to] a point where we say, we are out of here," said Dua.

He's not alone. Retailers continue to struggle as they offer consumers deep discounts. Others are going under as consumers tighten their belts in a worsening economy.

The National Retail Federation reported spending on the Saturday before Christmas, typically the busiest shopping day of the year, grew by an anemic half percent. To make matters worse, foot traffic at the stores dropped.

Still, some shopped on Christmas Eve. "[I] Just [kind of] waited to see if the prices would go down and things like that. I think they are as low as they'll go before tomorrow," said Valerie Robinson, a D.C. resident.

"I think this year more than ever, shoppers have no problem waiting until after the holiday season to finish their holiday shopping," added Scott Krugman of the National Retail Federation.

In fact, retailers are betting the day after Christmas will look a lot like Black Friday this year, with even deeper discounts and more special offers.

Shopper Danyelle Carpenter is waiting for those deals to finish her shopping. "Some of the big-ticket items we are going to see if we can save a few more dollars and see what happens," she said.

Even online shopping, which has seen steady growth over the last few years, is suffering. It's down one percent from last year.

 Email To Friend           Digg It!