1.   Instead of shopping second-hand at flea markets, she has personal shoppers shopping for her.

2.   Internet merchants also reported good sales over the weekend, something that could be a side effect of having fewer shoppers at the mall.

3.   Part of that is because retailers have conditioned shoppers to expect sales, said Roger Tutterow, director of the Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University.

4.   Some stores have personal shoppers who arrange packaging and delivery.

5.   Unseasonably warm temperatures in the Northeast had many shoppers more interested in rollerblading and washing their cars than in shopping, analysts said.

6.   A mysterious gas attack in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, last week is also believed to have discouraged shoppers, he said.