EVEN MORE RETAIL BLUES: Dismal holiday sales at Macy’s, Kohl’s spell gloom for sector.

Shares of other department store operators, including J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N), also fell as the dismal showing came as a shock to investors, given heightened expectations of a bump in holiday spending this year.

“The strength around Thanksgiving and Christmas was insufficient to offset the sales weakness in the balance of the quarter,” Stifel, Nicolaus & Co analyst Richard Jaffe wrote.

“In addition, these peak selling periods were characterized by greater promotions which contributed to weaker than anticipated gross margin as well.”

The National Retail Federation forecast 2016 holiday sales to rise 3.6 percent to $656 billion. A jump in spending in the final stretch of December was seen likely to offset a slow start to the holiday shopping season.

The problem with holiday retail shopping is that the experience is almost uniformly awful.