Mainers armed with Christmas gift certificates and an instinct for savings headed for retail stores today to take advantage of unusual post-holiday discounts.

Most retailers are slashing prices in an effort to lure consumers into their stores after a disappointing holiday season.

Merchants such as L.L. Bean, Macy's and Border's enticed shoppers with sale prices of up to 75 percent on some items.

The season is expected to be a poor one, thanks to the U.S. economic recession and bad weather that kept shoppers home during the week before Christmas.

Consumer spending nationally dropped by about 4 percent in the last two months of the year, according to SpendingPulse, a service that tracks national retail sales.