Michael Niemira
Michael Niemira
driven holiday largely promotions provide retailers season start strength strong
The strength was largely driven by promotions and did not provide as strong of a start to the holiday season as some retailers would have liked.
consumers headed holiday promotions provided retailers season selling
As the 'traditional' holiday selling season got underway on Friday, consumers headed to those retailers who provided promotions and discounts.
continue department easier hear retailers tone
I think you have to read between the lines. In September, retailers say things are on- to above-plan, that's reassuring, even with easier comparisons for the industry. The tone will be important, particularly with some of the department stores. If you continue to hear below-plan sales, that would be worrisome.
goods industry initially pick problem retailers sales selling spread start
I think initially the industry will try to keep the discounts more narrowly focused. The problem is, if sales don't pick up, retailers will start to spread out discounts to those goods not selling as well.
energy needed retailers
Retailers needed to be promotional because of the energy story. We didn't really see any strengthening this season, but we didn't really see any weakening either.
bit consumer last lower planning question retailers season spend weekend
Retailers have been planning for that lower traffic. The question now is, will the consumer in the last weekend of the season spend a little bit more or not?
black built deep leading momentum offering reason retailers sales
Part of the reason was that retailers built sales momentum by offering deep discounts leading up to Black Friday,
although categories consumers december furniture held home last looking month november power purchasing retail sales seems shifted
Looking at November and December together, it seems that retail sales held up pretty well during the holidays, although last month consumers shifted their purchasing power to other categories such as furniture and home goods.
clearly concerns consumer dispel economic gas goes growth impact increases performance positive price results says strong surprised
The strong May performance goes a long way to dispel concerns about the impact of gas price increases on consumer spending, ... I am surprised that the positive results were so widespread. It says 'Gee, the economic growth is clearly countering some of these other drags.'
open season
Is it enough to say this season could be more than OK? That's still an open question.
consumers helped holiday late lift
Procrastinating consumers and a late Hanukkah (December 25) helped to lift the holiday season's performance.
april economy employment fear number performance starting strong together
This number together with the strong April employment performance assuages the fear that the economy was starting to decline.
consumer continue credit hang major passive spend tends unless
Basically, the consumer will hang in there. Unless there's some kind of a major problem, the consumer tends to be more passive and will continue to spend if credit is available.
broader costs decent doubt economy financial growth happens later markets negatives profits remains summer time whether work
No doubt the financial markets are anticipating that something could change. Whether that happens this summer or later remains to be seen, ... There are some broader negatives in the economy right now but the they will take a long time to work through. For now, we can still get decent growth in profits even as costs rise.