Britt Beemer
Britt Beemer
company kept surprised
I'm surprised they kept any of the May company brands, frankly.
categories continue growth lead sales
Electronics continue to lead all categories in year-over-year sales growth for the holidays.
certainly guarantee people talking
It certainly is a niche. But there's no guarantee of success. You just have to have people talking about it from the day you open.
consumers less likely might
Consumers might think (restocking fees) are unfair. As long as they feel it's unfair, they'll be less likely to go back to that store.
attitudes christmas consumer customer felt help hurt instead last loyalty people percent pricing profits shift stores year
I think the big story of Christmas will be this shift in consumer attitudes where people felt that stores gouged them with their pricing strategy. The 30 to 40 percent discounts this year instead of the 50 to 70 percent off last year will help profits but will hurt customer loyalty in the long term.
given gone
They won't be there in 10 years. Most independent drugstores have given up and gone as the big drugstores come into town. ... It's kind of the end of an era.
bury cases certainly chose dropped heads rapidly running slash time video window
If I were Firestone I would certainly slash my prices. I think the time window is rapidly running out on Firestone. I would have dropped the video in the very beginning, but in some cases they chose to bury their heads in the sand.
apparel christmas gone hot last mediocre reason shop toy
It's a typical, mediocre Christmas season. But we've gone through the last years with no hot new toy and no hot apparel look. There's no reason to shop early.
removal retail strength
Some of the this may be attributed to the removal of the quotas and some to the strength of retail sales.
christmas decided flat good last luxury past people sales spending stores traffic vacation weekend year
Overall, the moderate-priced stores such as J.C. Penney, Sears and Wal-Mart had good traffic levels. We think luxury sales were probably flat this past weekend because more people said they decided to go away on vacation before Christmas this year than last year. So this could have impacted spending on other high-end items.
consumers cuts funds given grand hurricane last luxury money number retail send slam street talked wall year
There are a number of consumers I've talked to who have given money to hurricane funds in lieu of gifts. Last year luxury retail was the grand slam .... If this shopper cuts back, it will send Wall Street into a spin.
clothing department few flat longer people reason shop styles
When clothing styles went flat for a few years, people no longer had a reason to shop at department stores.
altogether beginning buy earlier halloween hot selling stores thanksgiving weeks
With nothing hot to buy in decorations this Christmas, many stores started selling two weeks earlier than ever before, beginning in mid-September. Many stores skipped Thanksgiving altogether and went from Halloween to Christmas.
afford destroy low
With their low margins, they can't afford to have unprofitable stores. It could destroy the profitability of the chain.