Zale Corp. said Tuesday that it will close 60 stores in the next 90 days, joining a growing list of retailers announcing post-holiday store consolidations.

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The just-completed holiday shopping season showed the worst sales growth in five years. Since then, retailers have slashed earnings outlooks, seen their already depressed stock prices collapse further and announced a steady stream of store closings.

Last week, Zale said its sales fell 9 percent in the combined November-December period, when it garners the bulk of its yearly profit.

Without identifying the stores, chief administrative officer Rodney Carter said the Irving-based jeweler plans to close 60 unprofitable Zales, Gordon's and Piercing Pagoda locations and "several dozen more" later this year.

Zale also is cutting its capital spending to $85 million this year from a planned $100 million, he told the Cowen & Co. annual consumer conference in New York.

In addition to Zale, home furnishings retailer Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. said Tuesday it will close 12 stores and two service centers, cutting operating costs amid a slowdown in the housing market.

Last week, Liz Claiborne Inc. said it's closing its 54-store Sigrid Olsen chain.

On Jan. 4, Talbots Inc. said it's closing 66 Talbots Kids and 12 Talbots Men's stores.

On the same day, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. said it's shutting the remaining 154 stores in its demo chain.

Three days after Christmas, Macy's Inc. said it was closing nine additional stores, including one in Dallas at Valley View Center, and some analysts predict more are likely.

The latest closures follow a slowdown last year in new-store expansions by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Home Depot Inc. Wal-Mart cut its plans for 2008 growth in square footage to 4 percent from 7 percent.

Some analysts predict that J.C. Penney Co. also will slow its expansion plans. Citigroup analyst Deborah Weinswig wrote in a report Thursday that Penney may move 2008 openings into 2009. And she said it was likely that Macy's has more consolidations coming.

Plano-based Penney embarked on a growth plan last year that called for 50 new stores annually. Penney spokeswoman Darcie Brossart said the company is "currently in the process of finalizing our 2008 capital expenditure plan."

"We continue to believe the strategies in our long-range plan provide the best opportunity to achieve sustainable growth over the longer term," she said. "However, in light of the expected weak retail environment, we will be taking a cautious approach to planning our business in 2008."

Also Tuesday, the Commerce Department said retail sales decreased 0.4 percent in December.

Combined November-December holiday sales totaled $469.9 billion, a 3 percent increase that fell short of the National Retail Federation's prediction of a 4 percent increase. The increase was the lowest since 2002, when holiday sales rose 1.3 percent.

Meeting in New York for its annual meeting, the board of directors of the federation asked Congress and President Bush to act quickly in stimulating the economy and "put dollars back in consumers' pockets to fuel and sustain economic growth." Consumer spending represents 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

On Monday, the federation predicted retail sales would rise 3.5 percent in 2008, as the housing slump, higher energy prices, and slow job and income growth restrain sales.

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