New York ? If you were hoping to find massive clearance sales as you finish up your holiday shopping, prepare to be disappointed.

Major stores that had worried it would take across-the-board discounts to lure shoppers are moving away from the panic button. They planned better this year in stocking merchandise, and Americans are spending a little more than expected.

Sales last week were up 18 percent from the week before, and a little more than 1 percent higher than a year before, according to figures released Wednesday by research firm ShopperTrak.

And because stores didn’t load up on merchandise like they did last year before the financial meltdown, they have the luxury of sticking to their original plans for discounts — not desperately slashing prices further as Christmas nears.

“The difference between this year and last year was planning,” said Scott Krugman, a spokesman at the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade group. “Retailers had time to plan whereas last year they didn’t.”

There are still plenty of deals, and discounts will probably be deeper this weekend, the last before Christmas. But people waiting for mounds of merchandise with 80 percent discounts might be left waiting.

That should help fourth-quarter profits as stores find they don’t have to drastically slash prices. For stores, the success of the holiday shopping season depends on the week before Dec. 25, which accounts for about a quarter of holiday sales, according to ShopperTrak.