Kurt Barnard

Kurt Barnard
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.
discount dragging home others retailers stores
Discount stores are doing very well, and home-oriented retailers are doing very well. But most of the others are dragging their heels.
act again came department finally flying hopes retailers specialty stores together
I still say don't get your hopes up for the holidays. Yes, the specialty retailers did exceedingly well. Yes, the department stores look like they finally are getting their act together and yes, the discounters again came through with flying colors.
act again came department finally flying hopes retailers specialty stores together
I still say don't get your hopes up for the holidays, ... Yes, the specialty retailers did exceedingly well. Yes, the department stores look like they finally are getting their act together and yes, the discounters again came through with flying colors.
arena bit discount efficient itself large likely perhaps retail store
From what I've seen, Sears is well underway to making itself into a more efficient and a more pleasant-to-shop retail establishment. It is likely to become a powerhouse in the mass-market arena and perhaps look a little bit like a combination of a large discount store and Kohl's.
apparel based department fashion heard hit lower seen stores
Based on what we've heard and seen so far, the fashion apparel stores and department stores are going to be hit with lower profits.
buy buying exposed food lady might people pet store
Pet food is something that a lot of people need. Clearly, you are exposed to a lot of other things that are in the store. Let's put it this way: the lady might come into the store to buy pet food and might end up buying pet food and some lipstick.
reasons stores
One of the reasons why stores did not do better than they did is because there were not enough new designs, not enough new fashions.
eye market needs pleasant stores toward
What J.C. Penney needs to do is to make the stores they do have palatable, pleasant to shop, and all of this needs to be done with an eye toward recapturing the market they've lost,
bargain cautious discount hunting money saving seeing spending stores stretching
What we are seeing is that consumers' cautious spending is now stretching to the low-priced discount stores as well as to the other stores. ...Today, saving money is chic. Bargain hunting is fashionable.
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.
action cases evidence exactly hot orders possible reduced running stores worst
There is spotty evidence that in some stores inventories are running low, but considering that the action that's in the stores is not particularly hot these days, that (low inventories) may not be the worst possible fate. In many cases a lot of stores reduced the orders they placed, and in some cases, canceled orders, which is exactly what's happening.
consumer continues department discount shift specialty spending stores strong
There has been, and continues to be, a strong shift of consumer spending away from traditional department stores and specialty stores over to discount stores.
attract competition direction exclusive goods group itself larger luxury pricing shows space stores trying
While Saks is trying to make itself even more exclusive and pricing its goods even higher, the Neiman Marcus stores are going in the other direction and trying to attract a larger group of consumers. Today's development shows that competition in the luxury space is being ratcheted up a notch.