After two months of positive sales reports that spurred hopes that an industry turnaround was at hand, major chain stores posted a 0.3 percent decline from a year ago, the International Council of Shopping Centers said Thursday. Department store giant Macy's Inc., teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and luxury seller Saks Inc. all reported declines. Most of the 32 chains tallied by the shopping center council missed Wall Street expectations. 'Santa delivers a big lump of coal in November,' said Ken Perkins, president of research company Retail Metrics Inc. 'It is a big disappointment. It is certainly further evidence that any recovery we have is going to be business- and capital-spending led; it's not coming on the backs of the consumer.' With double-digit unemployment and other financial worries, shoppers have been tight-fisted with their money all year. Kelly Francis, 58, said she will cut her budget in half this holiday season, to $500, and will make more presents. At a Southern California mall this week, the Los Angeles resident was looking for affordable gifts for her nieces and nephews. 'I usually try to spoil them, but this year, they're not going to get spoiled as much,' she said. 'And they're just going to have to deal with it.' With Christmas just three weeks away, retailers are scrambling to step up their efforts. The holiday season is a cutthroat time for the industry because 30 percent to 40 percent of a retailer's annual profits are earned in November and December, Perkins said. But low inventory levels this year mean many stores don't have room to slash prices. And that could spell deeper trouble because many frugal consumers are shopping only for deals this holiday season. Last month's setback was surprising because industry watchers had figured it would be so easy to beat the results of November 2008, when sales plummeted 7.7 percent. The shopping center council had originally predicted that sales would rise 5 percent to 8 percent; this week it trimmed that estimate but still called for a 3 percent to 4 percent gain. (Thomson Reuters calculated last month's figure as rising a slight 0.5 percent, which still missed expectations.) The results were even more disappointing given retailers' early discounts, increased ad spending and sweeping offers on the day after Thanksgiving that included freebies and heavy markdowns. Many merchants had expected strong sales on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Although shoppers turned out in force, they spent less on average and pushed sales up just 0.5 percent to $10.66 billion, not enough to offset the weakness that had set in earlier in the month. Online sales on Cyber Monday, however, performed significantly better, rising 13.7 percent from the same day last year, according to Coremetrics, which tracks sales for 500 member retailers. (Begin optional trim) Shopping in Union Square in San Francisco on Black Friday, Roxanne Franco, 31, bought buy-one-get-one-free sweaters at the Gap and said she would spend significantly less on Christmas presents after buying a house this year. 'We want to make sure we keep that roof over our heads,' the San Ramon resident said. 'So there will probably be more of the cookie-making and not so much the extravagant gifts.' Warm weather across the U.S. last month also hampered business by giving shoppers little reason to shop for winter clothing. 'Who's going to go out in their right mind and buy boots, hats, coats, sweaters?' Perkins said. 'It really puts a damper on apparel expenditure.' (End optional trim) Department stores and youth-oriented apparel retailers were the worst-performing sectors, according to Thomson Reuters. After posting a modest 0.7 percent gain in October, Saks saw sales fall a massive 26.1 percent. Macy's reported a 6.1 percent drop and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said sales fell 5.9 percent. In the teen sector, sales fell 17 percent at Abercrombie, 11.7 percent at Hot Topic Inc. and 2 percent at American Eagle Outfitters Inc. Results are based on sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales and considered an important measure of a retailer's health because it excludes the effect of new locations. Not surprisingly, retailers that sell discounted or value-priced merchandise continue to do better than their full-price competitors. Off-price retailers Ross Stores Inc. and TJX Cos., parent to the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, each posted an 8 percent increase. Teen retailer Aeropostale Inc., whose merchandise is less pricey than rivals Abercrombie and American Eagle, saw sales rise 7 percent. Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 6 percent increase. Retail behemoth Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, no longer releases monthly sales data. Analysts said government retail sales numbers, scheduled to be released next week, would provide a broader view of consumer spending because they include results from electronics chains and online sales. Those statistics also cover nonholiday categories such as gasoline sales and groceries. (Begin optional trim) With Christmas around the corner, retailers will have to quickly retrench to figure out how to entice shoppers to spend, said Liz Dunn, a retail analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners. 'It's a little bit of a game of chicken between the retailer and the consumer in terms of who breaks first,' she said. 'It's going to be a nail-biter, and it's going to come down to the last week before Christmas.' (End optional trim) Times staff writers Robert Faturechi and Alejandro Lazo contributed to this report. 