Kurt Barnard
Kurt Barnard
bit customers fortunate looking paycheck people price stores tag wealth worried
Upscale stores have done very well because their customers have been fortunate to amass a bit of wealth, so they're not worried about their jobs. But people who live paycheck to paycheck have to be careful, and they look at the price tag before looking at the product.
attack coming cost decline economy economy-and-economics existed extra gasoline gave gone hasten matter paycheck push retail terms
What Sept. 11 has done to the economy is to accelerate, hasten and deepen the decline, but the decline existed before. The attack gave it the extra push in terms of retail sales. If you don't have a paycheck coming in, it doesn't matter how much cost of gasoline has gone down.
cautious consumers doubt good holiday indicator last moderately news number paycheck price saying season shopping waiting
Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal. There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.
cautious consumers doubt good holiday indicator last moderately news number paycheck price reduction saying season shopping support tax waiting
Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal, ... There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions because they know that the support of another tax rebate or tax reduction is unlikely. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.
core profitable
It's not a core business, but (gardening) is a very profitable part of the business.
easier growing happens horizon shopping simply store
E-commerce is growing exponentially, and it is not at all unreasonable to think that simply because the store essentially, or a whole horizon of stores, happens to be right on your desk, that shopping is made so much easier than before,
beginning christmas consumer cost economy everybody exciting extra families far gas gasoline high landing less means month pump soft spending toll worried year
Everybody is worried about a soft landing for the economy and a contraction of consumer spending. And come Christmas it will be far less exciting than a year ago. The high cost at the gas pump is beginning to take its toll and for a lot of families spending an extra $20-to-$25 a month on gasoline means spending that much less on stores.
blizzard major malls presidents serious shut since stores weekend
The blizzard was a serious setback for retailers, especially since the Presidents Day weekend is a major day for sales. Most of the malls and independent stores were shut in the Northeast.
add bigger business grow growth percentage smaller stores
The bigger it gets, the smaller the percentage growth will be. Let's say that when you add 10 new stores to 100 stores, you grow the business 10 percent. When you add 10 stores to 3,000 stores, the growth isn't obvious.
activity august basically figures labor reliable september time
The August figures this time are basically not very reliable for anything whatsoever. A lot of the Labor Day activity will come in September this year.
cash demand dollar means related signs tremendous
There's tremendous demand for anything related to gardening, horticulture. It means dollar signs at the cash register.
comfort industry rest
The rest of the industry can take comfort from Wal-Mart's projections,
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.
companies fun image jump lesson offering sales seen useful
These two companies give a must-have lesson for all retailers. Shaper Image has seen sales jump in the double-digits because they keep innovating and offering new, fun and useful products.