It is an easier last-minute gift. For people that are trying to avoid the long lines or as the apparel selection starts to thin out, I think you will see more people turning to gift cards today. |
It's definitely been an emerging trend. You can give someone a flight into space now if you wanted to ? it'll cost you 5 million bucks ? but the opportunity is there. |
It's enough to turn a good holiday season into a great one. |
It's not a niche holiday by any stretch. It's the first big event after the (winter) holiday season. January is a bit of a lull month for the industry. Not counting back-to-school, Valentine's Day is the second biggest season for spending. |
It's not surprising at all. When the economy is down, nobody is completely immune to poor sales. |
It's tracking very strong. We feel very optimistic about this season. |
It's way too early to actually tell its impact. Such a small fraction of consumers have gotten them. People will use them to supplement back-to-school shopping budgets and home improvement projects people have been putting off. |
My standard feel is it's too early to tell. It looks like things are starting to stabilize a little bit. They're not getting worse. |
Outlets need to be innovative. They need to make sure they are attractive and that they are speaking to the demographic. But by no means are they past their prime or suffering a stigma of being low-end shopping. |
Passing these costs on to consumers is the last option. . . . There's too much competition out there. |
People always end up spending more than they plan. |
Retailers must always be focused on knowing their customers. But in desperate times like these that message gets hammered home because the competition is so fierce for a limited amount of dollars. |
Saddam's capture could provide a psychological boost to consumers who have been distracted by geopolitical uncertainly. However, in the short term it will have a negligible impact on spending trends, |
Saddam's capture could provide a psychological boost to consumers who have been distracted by geopolitical uncertainly. However, in the short term it will have a negligible impact on spending trends. |
The consumer has proved more resilient than many thought. We're still in the middle of a very busy week that can account for 10 to 15 percent of holiday sales, especially with all the unredeemed gift cards. It's not over yet. |