Retailers need this weekend, weather may keep customers away

Weather.com seems like a boring site, unless you are in the middle of a storm. It is actually a worthwhile exercise to look at how much snow is on the ground, particularly going into a big holiday weekend.

Shoppers are probably not going to get out much from Wisconsin to Boston. The Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains are about to be hit by a blizzard.

All of that is to say that the weekend the nation's retailers need to "catch up" on weak holiday sales, is likely to be a bit of a bust. Hard to buy things when you can't make it to the store.

According to Reuters, "Retailers prepared to open their doors early on Saturday in a final, frenzied push to save holiday sales, with the added disruption of a winter storm hitting the country's Midwest and Northeast.."

Wouldn't the intrepid shoppers come out anyway with Christmas just days away? Maybe not. People like to cover up the embarrassment of being broke. A storm is just the things.

And in Seattle, they are expecting seven inches of snow. Short Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD) on Monday.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.