NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — Last-minute shopping in the days leading up to Christmas may make up for lost weekend sales on the US East Coast after record snowfalls shut stores early and kept shoppers at home, the National Retail Federation said.

The weather wasn't enough to prompt the trade group to revise its forecast for a one percent drop in holiday sales, said Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the NRF. Some retailers may extend promotions into today to attract shoppers they had hoped to get during the last weekend before Christmas, she said yesterday.

"There are more than enough shopping days to make up any challenges due to weather in the east," Matt Rubel, chief executive officer of Collective Brands Inc., said in an e-mail yesterday. Collective Brands, based in Topeka, Kansas, is the owner of the Stride Rite and Payless ShoeSource chains.

Retailers in the Washington area closed early on Saturday and opened to fewer shoppers than is typical for the last weekend before Christmas. As much as 24 inches of snow fell on Bethesda, Maryland, while 16 inches were measured at the National Mall in Washington and 23.2 inches were recorded at Philadelphia International Airport, the National Weather Service said.

Shopping during the past weekend probably trailed the one following Thanksgiving, said Aaron Martin, a spokesman for researcher ShopperTrak RCT Corp., in an e-mail yesterday. The firm had anticipated the weekend would be the best of the season and in October forecast a 1.6 percent increase in total holiday sales.

Target Corp., the second-biggest US discount chain, said yesterday that the majority of its stores in areas affected by the snowstorm will extend their hours to close at midnight December 21 through December 23. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc. will also keep stores open longer than they did last year.

Macerich's Tysons Corner Center, the Washington area's largest shopping mall with about 300 stores, closed early at 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to spokeswoman Rebecca Stenholm. Tysons Corner opened at its normal time of 9 a.m. on December 20.

"Certainly the crowds are quiet this morning but we expect them to grow," she said in an interview yesterday.

Simon Property Group Inc. and Westfield Group closed malls early in Maryland and Virginia on Saturday. All of Westfield Group's malls and shopping centres opened on time on Sunday, said spokeswoman Katy Dickey.

Historically, the 10 days before Christmas have made up 40 percent of total holiday sales for November and December, according to Joseph Feldman, a managing director at Telsey Advisory Group in New York. The Washington-based National Retail Federation said last week that consumers had completed less than half of their holiday shopping, the lowest level since 2004, according to a survey by BIGresearch.

The luxury shopping section of Washington's Dupont Circle neighbourhood was nearly deserted on Saturday. A family of three skied down the middle of 18th Street. At 2 p.m. the AnnTaylor, Johnston & Murphy and Godiva stores on Connecticut Avenue were shut. Brooks Brothers closed at 1 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. "due to inclement weather!!" its sign said.

"This is kind of an act of God," Jim Rosenheim, chief executive officer of Tiny Jewel Box Inc., a family-owned single- location jewellery business on Connecticut Avenue. "There's not a damn thing I can do about it."