Michael Niemira Strong Quotations

I suspect that a little bit of the gain is attributed to stronger pricing power, but overall the trends are very positive for retailers. The message from these numbers is that momentum is on the retailers' side as we move into the holiday season.

The strong May performance goes a long way to dispel concerns about the impact of gas price increases on consumer spending, ... I am surprised that the positive results were so widespread. It says 'Gee, the economic growth is clearly countering some of these other drags.'

The strength was largely driven by promotions and did not provide as strong of a start to the holiday season as some retailers would have liked.

This number together with the strong April employment performance assuages the fear that the economy was starting to decline.