Kurt Barnard
Kurt Barnard
clear economy evidence frightened happening list numbers point public saw today
What's happening is very simple. The numbers we saw today are clear evidence that the American public is shell-shocked to the point of being frightened over a big long list of circumstances surrounding the economy over which they have no power, no control.
july maybe numbers sales
July sales numbers are not going to be very good, maybe a tad better than they would have been without the checks,
buying came consumers continued figures last numbers october robust though year
Consumers in October continued on a buying spree, propelled by a very robust economy, ... Many came through with better figures than last year, even though last year the numbers were also very good.
generators numbers today
The numbers today are nothing other than big generators of yawns.
august confirm consumer decade importance numbers outside quite retail sales slowing spending surprising trend
It wasn't surprising really. The August same-store numbers really confirm the trend of slowing retail sales and consumer spending, ... August was the back-to-school that wasn't. August and back-to-school doesn't quite have the importance it did a decade ago, but outside of that make no mistake, consumer spending has slowed down and Americans are tapped out.
basically climate confirm consumer employment inevitable numbers predicted remains simply spending stagnant time
Today's (consumer confidence) numbers do very little other than to simply confirm what we had predicted some time ago, that a consumer spending slowdown is basically inevitable so long as the employment climate remains as stagnant as it is,
against beyond easier fueled heavy july last numbers period retailers school situation year
These numbers come on the back of heavy discounting. The back-to-school period also fueled results. Beyond that, the situation last year in July wasn't good. So retailers were up against much easier comparisons.
gap time
What the Gap is doing is not only what it must be doing, but what it should have done a long time ago.
bottom checks effect hurt itself nightmare results retailers tax worst
The worst part of these results is that they show that the effect of the tax rebate checks has petered out. This is a nightmare in itself for retailers and it doesn't bode well for Christmas. Also, we'll probably see more markdowns now, more than retailers anticipated for the holidays. That will hurt their bottom line.
companies consumer controls decent demand difficult economic evidence good however inventory nobody orders planning spring time until
They are all planning very cautiously, very carefully. Some companies have very decent inventory controls, but however good those controls are they still have to do some economic forecasting, and forecasting is a little difficult this time around. Nobody is going to spring for big orders until there's evidence that consumer demand is back, and there is no such evidence to date.
clear consumer decent evidence expect holiday last modest sales slow spending three
The sales clear evidence of modest consumer spending slow down. We expect a decent holiday sales season, but an unspectacular one. The last three have been spectacular, particularly the last one.
activity early full last levels lower retailers selling store surprised traffic year
Early indications show that store traffic and the promotional activity is at lower levels than last year at this time. I wouldn't be surprised if many retailers try to get away with selling merchandise at full price.
cash clients continue continued february half marked retail sales sore spending stood stronger telling year
February sales were very strong, stronger than anticipated in many instances. I will tell you that if you were a retailer in February and did not do very well, you stood out like a sore thumb. We're telling our clients that the first half of this year will continue to be marked by continued strong spending at the retail cash register.
february likely month past results seems seen spring testing
February is a testing month for spring, and the results have not been spectacular, ... There seems to be a sense of foreboding that while spring is likely to be a smidgen better than we have seen in past months, it is not going to be a barn-burner.