Retailers ready to kick off unofficial start of the holiday season just as shoppers pull back

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements. But executives are growing concerned with a spending slowdown that could temper sales on the day after Thanksgiving as well as throughout the holidays. Shoppers, powered by a solid job market and steady wage growth, had demonstrated a resilience that confounded economists and ran counter to sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls. Such spending came despite higher prices in the grocery aisle and higher borrowing costs. But consumers are coming under more under pressure from dwindling savings, increased credit card debt and still stubborn inflation