We suspect the storm again hurt sales in the region. Even though this storm was a little more concentrated than last week's storm , it did cut into demand. It will be important to see if that demand is shifted to this week and to next weekend. |
We thought the shift in the Memorial Day weekend this year to about a week later than last year could hurt holiday sales. That was only an isolated case. I think favorable weather probably had more of an impact that brought people out to stores to shop. |
We worry about the impact of gasoline and inflation, but it's still nothing more than a worry. The reality is that the consumer continues to spend at a pretty healthy pace. |
We're already seeing indications of that. |
We're not out of the woods on the gasoline front. And we are certainly not out of the woods on the broader energy front. We still have a second wave in the pipeline, which is home heating season expenses. And that comes about the time that the holiday season unfolds, |
We've been down this path before when a snowstorm hit the East in the first week of December last year. It was a major headache for the season and the industry never recovered from it, |
Weather does matter more at certain times of the year than others. |
Weather was a big catalyst. |
What this report said is exactly what I've been talking about since December. |
What we've seen on Black Friday historically is no clear indicator of how holiday sales will finish. Even though we might not see heavy promotions this year, we think underlying consumer demand is strong. If people want to wait until after Christmas for the big sales, they run the risk of picking up leftover merchandise. |
What you're seeing is that some retailers are getting back to normal, but the weakness seems pretty widespread among department stores. So it's still an extremely fragile environment. |
While Black Friday is important to retailers, it's not always the best indicator for consumer shopping patterns during the remainder of the holiday season, which should allow the retail industry to continue feeling optimistic. |
While retailers are pleased with (Christmas) performance, the holiday shopping season is far from over, since about 60 percent of gift-card redemptions occur between Dec. 26 and the end of January. |
While retailers are pleased with last week's performance, the holiday shopping season is far from over, since about 60 percent of gift-card redemptions occur between December 26 and the end of January. |
While there is some concern regarding the continued retail sluggishness this season, consumers have an additional two days this year to finish their holiday shopping, which may boost this season's final retail performance. |