Ellen Tolley
Ellen Tolley
busy left looks next past people seems shopping stores
There were a lot of people out in the stores this past weekend, and from the looks of things, it seems like a lot of people have a lot of shopping left to do. It's going to be a busy next two weeks,
consumer consumers cut doubt gas growing higher prices reaction retail sales somewhat spending
The consumer reaction to higher gas prices has been somewhat puzzling. There is no doubt that high gas prices cut into consumer income, but ... consumers are still spending and retail sales are growing more than expected,
grand growth instead might percent scheme
In the grand scheme of things, we might see growth of 5.6 percent instead of 5.7 percent.
high lived looks
Looks like last-minute shoppers lived up to their high expectations.
expense good pass planned sales
These discounts are too good to pass up. But we think that these are planned sales and not at the expense of retailers' profits.
biggest christmas days eve fact fell friday malls meant people work
Malls were packed on Christmas Eve. It will go down as one of the biggest days before Christmas on record. Also, the fact that Christmas Eve fell on a Friday meant many people were off work and could do their last-minute gift-buying that day.
afraid consumers october slow
The one thing that October showed us is that consumers aren't afraid to spend, even in a slow economy.
anticipate attention bring changing costs energy factors forecast negative people time
There are always some people who will say negative things just to get attention from the press, ... Our forecast is realistic. It's not spectacular. There are some lagging factors such as unemployment and energy costs that could bring it down. At this time we don't anticipate changing our forecast.