NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — “Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported surprisingly weak November sales on Saturday, even as U.S. bargain-hunters jammed stores in search of gifts at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season.

The world’s biggest retailer estimated that November sales fell 0.1 percent at its U.S. stores open at least a year.”

This includes “Black Friday” results, apparently. Speaks for their leading-edge IT. They may look kind of old-fashioned and cheap, but they have spent where it counts on IT for a long time.

The Wall Street Journal is running a blog on holiday sales that is available to non-subscribers.