Britt Beemer
Britt Beemer
discount good hitting home luxury market middle runs stores worried
The luxury stores are the ones hitting the home runs and the discount stores are going to end up doing some pretty good numbers, ... I'm very worried that the middle part of the market is not here.
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.
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.
consumer goes stores
The consumer that's going to Wal-Mart is going to be very price-driven. The person who goes to one of these stores may be very high-tech-driven.
consumers home others reality retail sofa stores
Consumers look around and see (the Home store's) $1,299 sofa and see others for $699 or $799 at other stores and it's a reality check. I find after the hoopla is over, they become retail museums.
aggressive buying drive parents point spent stores time
At this point in the buying season, parents have only spent $71.96 so far, so there is time for stores to get aggressive and drive more sales,
afford case losing percent retailers start stores today trouble
The trouble today with retailers is they can't afford to have too many underperforming stores. When 10 percent of your stores are unprofitable, you will start losing money. That wasn't the case years ago.
cards excited gift people plan putting retailers spring
About 30% of people who got gift cards plan to use them this week. Many retailers are going to be putting out spring merchandise to get people excited about it.
doomed next quarter year
I would say that the first quarter of next year probably has already been doomed by this episode,
martha
She was off the charts. Right up there with Martha Stewart.
broader cannot focused
I think that Wal-Mart has come to the realization that it cannot be focused on low-prices alone. They need a broader offering.
chrysler debating decision easier sure
I'm sure that Chrysler has been debating this for years. It's probably easier for Daimler to make the decision than for Chrysler.
breed chance figures kids parents retailers school season shot sports taking year
Back to school is a very important season for retailers because it's one chance in the year when retailers get a shot at parents and kids at the same time. Historically, sports figures have been the big players; now it's a different breed of endorsers taking over.
advised battles clients fight might types
I've advised clients that when you get into these types of situations, the PR battles are so bad. You might as well get out of it and not fight it.