A cold spring does hurt business. |
A terrible problem for retailers is that most stores are evoking yawns from consumers, instead of excitement. Retailers just can't keep making the mistake of taking customers for granted by selling ho-hum kind of merchandise. Consumers are looking for unusual and exciting products and they're not finding them. |
A Valentine's Day gift requires a lot of thought. |
All apparel-based retailers got creamed. They lost much of their market share to discounters, |
All apparel-based retailers got creamed. They lost much of their market share to discounters. |
All I can tell you is that we've had some information that April retail sales were somewhat disappointing for some chains, |
All our surveys and research have demonstrated that consumer spending is very slow in growing and contracting. It resists change. We can expect this to last quite a while. |
Amazon's prospects, in my view, are at best limited. They may do some wonderful things, but the market isn't there. It's like a jockey beating a horse with three legs, |
Amazon's prospects, in my view, are at best limited. They may do some wonderful things, but the market isn't there. It's like a jockey beating a horse with three legs. |
Americans are basically tapped out, |
Americans are being bombarded with announcements of layoffs. Anytime you listen to the radio it's always 3,000 laid off here, 500 there, ... That means a lot of people who have decent jobs and good income hear that little voice in the back of their head asking the question 'could my number be up next?' They're buying what they need, but they don't buy frivolously. |
Americans are less secure. There's an uneasiness in the air and a tendency to look over one's shoulder more often. |
Americans have become very cautious spenders, and that was extremely evident in May. Retail sales will continue to advance, but very slowly, very cautiously. |
Americans, for one reason or another, have not given up on their infatuation with SUVs that guzzle gas by the gallons. But there's only so much money to go around. If people are paying more to drive their cars, they will have less money to spend on other things. |
Are consumers buying more? I don't know. I think what Wal-Mart said about people spending less of the rebate money this year in stores is significant. It shows people prefer to save any extra money than spend it. |