IN BRIEF

NEW YORK

Shoppers crowd stores but retailers still wary

The nation's shoppers -- taking advantage of deep discounts and expanded hours -- jammed stores over the last weekend before Christmas to try to grab a hard-to-find Wii or scoop up bargains on other items. But the spending surge may not be enough to offset what is shaping up to be a mediocre December for some retailers.

Based on early reports on Sunday, mall operators including Macerich Co. said they were pleased with the spending spree over the weekend, but they were still counting on Christmas Eve and post-Christmas business to meet holiday sales goals in what has turned out to be a nail biter of a season.

Many merchants, which had struggled through a sluggish December after a strong start to the season, are counting even more on the final days before Christmas to make their holiday goals. With the three days prior to Christmas accounting for as much as 15 percent of holiday sales, there's a lot of business left on the table.

CINCINNATI

Scripps Co. expects new company to grow

A restructured E.W. Scripps Co. will emerge in 2008, one that its designated chief executive says can grow.

"Long term, what you want to do is be a player in more markets," Rich Boehne, currently Scripps' chief operating officer, said in an AP interview. Scripps recently announced plans to split into two companies, with current CEO Kenneth Lowe to head the new Scripps Networks Interactive.

E.W. Scripps, to be headed by Boehne, will include newspapers in 17 U.S. markets and 10 broadcast television stations. While the new company gets newer, growing businesses such as the Food Network and HGTV, Boehne said he is bullish on the future for local news on TV and newspapers and particularly in their online components.

"The growth opportunities are probably more immediate on the cable network side, but the wonderful change and chaos and lack of clarity in local media suggests that there's opportunity," he said.

CAMARILLO, Calif.

Gasoline prices fall over past two weeks

The national average price for gasoline dropped about 3 cents over the last two weeks, according to a survey released Sunday.

The average price of regular gasoline on Friday was $2.97 a gallon, mid-grade was $3.09, and premium was $3.20, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said.

Of cities surveyed, the nation's lowest price was in Tulsa, Okla., where a gallon of regular cost $2.71, on average. The highest was in San Francisco at $3.35, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 stations nationwide.