They lined up in department stores such as Dillard's, Sears, Macy's and JCPenney to take advantage of steep discounts. In some cases, stores were marking down merchandise as much as 70 percent.

Red sale tags and tinny Christmas songs didn't completely drown out the economic blues some say will make the 2008 holiday season the worst in decades for retailers.

But they did enough to fill parking lots, food courts and cash register lines for a few hours on Friday.

"We weren't going to buy for ourselves, but we did," said Steve Filippini of Las Vegas.

Steve and his wife, Judith, scored a complete set of linens for a king-size bed at Dillard's for $100.

Steve said the set would have cost more than double that number without the sale markdown.

"Sales are there, but you have to deal with the crowds," Judith said.

And with consumer confidence as low as tights on an elf, Judith was willing to jostle with other sale-seekers to get good deals.

She recently retired from a job with the city and, like many others, is paying close attention to prices.

"I spent less because I had less to spend," she said of her holiday shopping. "There is just less money available."

That kind of focus by shoppers could spell deep trouble for the nation's stores.

Holiday sales -- which typically account for 30 percent to 50 percent of a retailer's annual total -- have been less than jolly. Job cuts, portfolio losses and other economic woes have led many Americans to cut back on their spending. Meanwhile, strong winter storms kept some would-be shoppers at home.

According to preliminary data from SpendingPulse, which tracks purchases paid for by credit card, checks or cash, retail sales fell between 5.5 percent and 8 percent during the holiday season compared with last year. Excluding auto and gasoline sales, they fell 2 percent to 4 percent, according to SpendingPulse.

More people did appear to shop online, particularly in the last two weeks of the season, when storms hit. Online sales dipped just 2.3 percent, SpendingPulse said.

A fuller indicator of how retailers fared will arrive Jan. 8, when major stores report same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, for December.

Many stores are likely to report a loss for the fourth quarter, said NPD senior retail analyst Marshal Cohen.

Stores were hoping that big discounts the day after Christmas could lure people out and help stem those losses. And although some malls around the country appeared to be busy with bargain hunters and gift-returners, analysts said traffic appeared to be lighter than in years past.

Tina Allen took a break from shopping on a bench outside JC Penney at Meadows Mall.

Allen, of Walnut Creek, Calif., picked up video games for her grandchildren at GameStop. She said the store has a "buy two, get one free," promotion.

"The game stores are having great sales," she said.

Still, Allen was frustrated that even the deepest recession in recent memory hasn't prompted department stores to address some of her shopping pet peeves.

For starters, she said the clothing selection in many stores is poor for people who don't have the body of a runway model.

"There are a lot of plus-size women out there and they only get a little closet area with frumpy clothes," Allen said, describing her impression of the selection at Macy's.

She also criticized the department chain, which like similar chains has seen hard times lately, for letting areas of the store get picked over and go unreplenished.

"They had the most dowdy, creepy clothes," she said.

Her best deals of the season were found at stores that are going out of business.

Allen's holiday shopping included a couple stores from the death row of retail, such as Mervyns and KB Toys.

"Now is the time to buy," she said. "You can get some pretty great deals."

Allen wasn't the only shopper smelling blood in the retail water.

The Mackes family, of Rio Rancho, N.M., and Las Vegas, planned to head over to The Great Indoors, a furnishings store that's going out of business.

The group, along with Lonnie Garbiso of Las Vegas, was loaded down with bags from Dillard's.

Vicki Mackes, of Rio Rancho, spoke for the group, which was generally unimpressed with deals at the mall.

"It just seems like we got more last year," she said. "Usually Dillard's and Macy's have huge sales, but I didn't find any."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.