erika miller spoke with retail expert dana telsey and began by asking what happened. >> i think there were a confluence of events, extra long season. hurricane sandy. tragedy in ct. >> none of the events out there were feel good factor events. it was all for consumer morale. >> when you look at the weakness this holiday season, how much of the blame do you put on retailers for not having inspiring merchandise and how much of it are just factors beyond their control like the economy and the fiscal cliff? >> i think overall it was more probably 70 to 80% factors beyond the retailer's control. i think retailers had creative merchandise but i think the news didn't lead to a feel good factor. >> in any economy, good or bad, you always have some winners. who did really well this year? >> well, it looks like in terms of who did well so far, companies like american eagle outfitters limited, michael cors, macy's' tj and i would say costco was also a winner. >> on the flip side were there retailers that you had high hopes for going into the season but just didn't deliver in the end. >> certainl

dana telsey is a retail analyst. >> whether it was hurricane sandy, the need to spend on the home; whether it was the tragedy in connecticut, and took away the feel-good factor-- it was a confluence of events that led to a "should have been better" holiday season. >> reporter: a big part of the problem was in the densely populated northeast, where more than a fifth of country's retail sales take place. holiday spending priorities shifted after hurricane sandy as homeowners focused more on repairs than on gifts. also dragging down sales was uncertainty about the so-called fiscal cliff, tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect next year. if lawmakers don't reach a deal to avoid it, consumers could see higher taxes eating into their paychecks. even online sales suffered. compared to past years of double-digit growth, this year, online holiday sales rose only about 8%, compared to nearly 16% last year. overall, holiday spending accounts for up to 30% of retailers' annual sales, so the disappointing season is a concern for an economy struggling to recover. >> consumers need to have more c

dana telsey is the ceo and chief officer of telsey group.y after thanksgiving, you said there was going to be sort of a hot -- that weekend was going to be big, there was going to be a lull, and it was all going to come back. has it turned out that way for you, dana? >> i think some of it came back. i don't think all of it came back. i think it was a tougher season than expected. you think you had the long calendar, the hurricane sandy, the track dpi in connecticut, people had a lot on their minds this season. this weekend was a key weekend. i think it helped. i didn't see promotions being extra promotional. but it's a push till the end. >> okay, so winners and losers? >> i think some of the winners, i think you're going to see companies like tjx, macy's. i think american eagle outfitters, even gap had a very good season, along with michael kors. >> losers? >> i think you had a tough time at jcpenney. i think the traffic was tough there all the time. i think kohl's had to be extra promotional in order to be able to drive the sales. and the w