No place like .... Walmart for the holidays?

Business Writer Kiernan P. Schmitt

A new study says 2 out of every 3 Americans shopped at Walmart last week. America's research group says that's more shoppers at Walmart than JCPenney, Sears, Target, and Toys R Us combined! Looks like it's going to be a merry Christmas for the world's largest retailer.

Walmart's domination has actually brightened the group's entire holiday outlook. It was predicting holiday retail sales would fall by 3.5%, but bumped that up to a less-gloomy loss of 2.8%.

Customers are cutting back - Almost 37% said in the survey they are spending less this year, the highest percentage in the seven years the group has been asking that question.

Some good news for the kiddies out there, though: toys are the most-bought gift this year (33.8%), followed by children's clothing (23.7%).

So even if you get that great new doll that walks and talks and eats and performs basic calculations, be wary of that next present: it's probably tube socks.