Kurt Barnard
Kurt Barnard
apparel based department fashion heard hit lower seen stores
Based on what we've heard and seen so far, the fashion apparel stores and department stores are going to be hit with lower profits.
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If this is a hot summer, we are going to see an overwhelming number of air conditioners sold, ... And even if it's not a hot summer, air conditioners will be a hot seller.
beginning bought gas money realize
Today, (consumers) are beginning to realize they have to do some buying, but there isn't that much money yet after gas and what they've already bought at Wal-Mart.
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Halloween has become in recent times a little more of a retail-type holiday than you've seen it in decades past. It's becoming a little more important not just for sales of scary masks, but there generally is more traffic into the stores. It's sort of the beginning of fall, something like the precursor for what's to come.
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What Sept. 11 has done to the economy is to accelerate, hasten and deepen the decline, but the decline existed before. The attack gave it the extra push in terms of retail sales. If you don't have a paycheck coming in, it doesn't matter how much cost of gasoline has gone down.
eye market needs pleasant stores toward
What J.C. Penney needs to do is to make the stores they do have palatable, pleasant to shop, and all of this needs to be done with an eye toward recapturing the market they've lost,
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With gas prices the way they are and with people suddenly being burdened with monthly car payments, they are looking for bargains. People are taking their money from Bloomingdale's to Penney, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS - news ) and Target (NYSE: TGT - news ).
clear economy evidence frightened happening list numbers point public saw today
What's happening is very simple. The numbers we saw today are clear evidence that the American public is shell-shocked to the point of being frightened over a big long list of circumstances surrounding the economy over which they have no power, no control.
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Even the most loyal customers won't be able to resist a very good bargain. And by the time the loyal customer has bought all the Wal-Mart bargains, there won't be very much left for Target.
bigger comparable customer improve increasing offers opportunity sales volume
Bigger is better. Bigger offers more opportunities for increasing sales volume and increasing the customer base. It would give them an opportunity to improve their comparable sales performance.
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Everything will depend on whether they can get an extension of their credit and possibly additional credit to tide them over. If they don't get the credit, Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) is probably the only way out.
seems
Everything really seems to be working for the consumers.
bit customers fortunate looking paycheck people price stores tag wealth worried
Upscale stores have done very well because their customers have been fortunate to amass a bit of wealth, so they're not worried about their jobs. But people who live paycheck to paycheck have to be careful, and they look at the price tag before looking at the product.
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There is spotty evidence that in some stores inventories are running low, but considering that the action that's in the stores is not particularly hot these days, that (low inventories) may not be the worst possible fate. In many cases a lot of stores reduced the orders they placed, and in some cases, canceled orders, which is exactly what's happening.