Kurt Barnard Sum Quotations

Consumer spending is heavily devoted to hard goods. That implies for the most part that home-oriented things have been doing well for some time, ... Home sales have been skyrocketing. Every time a home changes hands, tens of thousands of dollars are spent on decorating, furnishings, adding new kitchens and bathrooms.

Consumer spending is going to be more restrained than it had been early last year. They will be buying things they need. They will not buy on impulse and will not buy frivolously. They will buy what they need and look for bargains.

Consumer spending is avoiding the mall-based, high-priced stores and is now drifting rapidly to the discount and low-priced segment.

Consumer spending had been in decline before this awful tragedy happened. Now comes this additional damper. Considering we are living in state of shock, sorrow and sadness, we really can't expect people to just go out on wild shopping binges.

Consumers in October continued on a buying spree, propelled by a very robust economy, ... Many came through with better figures than last year, even though last year the numbers were also very good.

Consumers have turned cautious. They have stopped buying things frivolously. Consumers do spend money today, but they will buy only what they need, will insist on good quality and fashion. But they will buy cautiously, and not buy extravagantly.

This has become a very serious disruption in what could otherwise be a much better consumer spending climate,

All our surveys and research have demonstrated that consumer spending is very slow in growing and contracting. It resists change. We can expect this to last quite a while.

Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal. There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.

Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal, ... There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions because they know that the support of another tax rebate or tax reduction is unlikely. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.

They are all planning very cautiously, very carefully. Some companies have very decent inventory controls, but however good those controls are they still have to do some economic forecasting, and forecasting is a little difficult this time around. Nobody is going to spring for big orders until there's evidence that consumer demand is back, and there is no such evidence to date.

His capture is extremely meaningful for Iraq and the Arab world, but as far as the U.S. consumer is concerned, it doesn't mean much.

This loss will be easily made up, ... If I want to buy some jewelry for my wife, do you think I'm going to let one snow storm stop me? No, I won't. Consumers will get their shopping done this week and in the days leading up to Christmas.

Retailing and consumer spending are a function of a four-letter word -- jobs. And there are no jobs being formed in the United States at the present time. We are in an unfortunate labor climate, one that might be called not at all propitious for retail spending.

As consumers become more comfortable with buying from the computer, ... and this new generation that has grown up with the computer comes of age, what we will see is huge dollar amounts of retail sales being transacted on the Web and we will see a lot of stores become increasingly Web stores.

Until the unemployment picture improves, consumers will be very cautious about their spending habits. We think the second half of the year could also be difficult for the retail industry unless the job demand improves.

Generally speaking, consumers like the opportunity of being put face to face with newness. They know they don't have to buy now.

The problem with Target is a problem facing every retailer. The price of gas is coming down, but home heating oil is going to be a major problem, ... A lot of consumers are worried.

This is not the time for runaway enthusiasm. The first half was very good for retailers but consumers are going to be very wary in the second-half, ... if we're lucky.

Consumers have been and continue to be on a spending spree and that has benefited most retailers, ... The universe has been very retail friendly.

Consumers are extremely cautious today, and that caution has not really very much to do with consumer confidence indexes. It's related almost exclusively to one item, one four-letter word: jobs.

Consumers are already concerned that the labor market continues to lag behind an economic recovery. They don't really need another negative distraction.

The demand for the 'luxury look' is back. Americans want to be fashionable and elegantly dressed but that doesn't mean they want to go broke in the process, ... Consumers know that they can get that well-dressed look for an affordable price, and that's why the specialty apparel chains like Gap ( GPS : Research , Estimates ) and Ann Taylor ( ANN : Research , Estimates ) are performing well.

Shelf space is diamond-encrusted gold. It's exposure to the consumer and everyone wants exposure to the consumer. They each had a lot of economic power before, but with the marriage they'll have a lot more power, power to get shelf space, preferred positions, all of that.

There's no question it's been very anemic. Now the big question is, will the bargain hunt continue into the next 16 to 17 days before Christmas, or will consumers just simply go shopping?

This trend is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. Growth will continue and will be very strong, but it will be more moderate than it was last year, ... Make no mistake about it - this growth will continue. Consumer spending will continue to grow, but it's not going to suddenly stop or go back. It will continue at a more reasonable pace.

Everybody is worried about a soft landing for the economy and a contraction of consumer spending. And come Christmas it will be far less exciting than a year ago. The high cost at the gas pump is beginning to take its toll and for a lot of families spending an extra $20-to-$25 a month on gasoline means spending that much less on stores.

Today's (consumer confidence) numbers do very little other than to simply confirm what we had predicted some time ago, that a consumer spending slowdown is basically inevitable so long as the employment climate remains as stagnant as it is,

There has been, and continues to be, a strong shift of consumer spending away from traditional department stores and specialty stores over to discount stores.

Consumers still aren't in a spending mood, ... This year is going to be modestly better. The emphasis is on the word 'modest.'

It seems to be that a lot of these large chains are gravitating toward the advantages inherent in joint buying and obtaining lower prices and saving a lot of money in the process, ... ...It is very likely to be a powerful weapon in the retailer's arsenal to reduce the cost of buying and operating. And given the world of the Internet, which makes possible these alliances, it has to be recognized that consumers will find it so much easier these days to compare prices because all they have to do is click away.

July was surprisingly strong -- consumers are on a buying spree, ... Remember the old saying 'Shop till they drop'? Now it has become 'Shop till they shop some more.'

The anecdotal evidence would indicate that traffic was not excessively busy. And what consumers were looking for was the sales sign. They looked at the price tag before they looked at the product.

The anecdotal evidence would indicate that traffic was not excessively busy, ... And what consumers were looking for was the sales sign. They looked at the price tag before they looked at the product.

We believe the earnings will be quite good, and that the result will give a boost to retail stocks. Everything has been favorable for retailers in terms of abundant consumer spending.

The jobs situation is still not resolved. Across several industries, inventories are rising, and we're seeing that consumers are trading down. That's an indicator that people are not beset with worries but they are turning cautious.

Their sales are terrible and their efforts to come up with newness that appeals to consumers and brings them back into the stores are failing. There's absolutely no indication that they have found a road back to health, and while they have very little debt, they do have too many stores. With that kind of a background, it's not difficult to envision a bankruptcy in the foreseeable future.

There's a general sense of weakness and caution and I'll tell you the headlines in the newspapers these days do not help, ... We're seeing more layoffs and consumers are beginning to feel there's a cold winter breeze suddenly blowing their way.

There's a general sense of weakness and caution and I'll tell you, the headlines in the newspapers these days do not help. We're seeing more layoffs and consumers are beginning to feel there's a cold winter breeze suddenly blowing their way.

We're seeing the consumer back at the discretionary counters and that is good news for the entire industry.

We're seeing clearance sales that are early by at least three to four weeks. Going back to the beginning of summer they had a lot of inventory on hand and they need to get rid of it, ... Second-quarter earnings are going to reflect the markdowns. Everybody has been caught in the downdraft.

The outlook is for a muted third quarter, and also fourth quarter. It's not getting any worse in our opinion. We believe that consumer spending has essentially bottomed out. That does not mean consumers are ready to go on a spending spree or a buying binge. Things are likely to remain at their current level.

You know, Americans have jobs. Americans are earning money. They feel good about themselves. They feel secure in their ability to hold onto the job, and even if they lose the job they know they don't have to go too far to find another one, ... So they feel a sense of security, of freedom to go out and spend and buy and do things for themselves, and that is why we are absolutely convinced that consumer spending will remain strong certainly throughout the balance of this year, and ... maybe into next year.

What we have seen is a continuation of an economic downturn accompanied by a downturn in consumer confidence and employment that started and gathered speed long before Sept. 11,

We were dealing with a very cautious, very careful consumer who was not really inspired to buy anything because there wasn't anything worth buying.

It is a good time if you're willing to accept slow growth and slow improvement. We do not anticipate at this time that the foreseeable future will bring a real strong massive upturn in consumer spending.

It is a coming back down to earth. About two or three months ago, the world was swept up by the notion that the economic recession is over and the good times are rolling again. That meant consumers would be knocking down the doors of retailers the way they did a few years ago. But guess what? It ain't happening.

We are really seeing a cautious consumer who is cutting back on discretionary spending.

It wasn't surprising really. The August same-store numbers really confirm the trend of slowing retail sales and consumer spending, ... August was the back-to-school that wasn't. August and back-to-school doesn't quite have the importance it did a decade ago, but outside of that make no mistake, consumer spending has slowed down and Americans are tapped out.

A terrible problem for retailers is that most stores are evoking yawns from consumers, instead of excitement. Retailers just can't keep making the mistake of taking customers for granted by selling ho-hum kind of merchandise. Consumers are looking for unusual and exciting products and they're not finding them.

While consumers did go to malls in July, they did so to be in air conditioning but didn't make many purchases.

Are consumers buying more? I don't know. I think what Wal-Mart said about people spending less of the rebate money this year in stores is significant. It shows people prefer to save any extra money than spend it.

We found out, from talking to consumers and store operators all over the country, that low-dollar items went very fast. Forget about high-end items.

The fashions did not appeal. They were not sufficiently exciting to sweep consumers into the stores, ... translates into a lack of confidence that there will be strong consumer demand in the second half.

The sales clear evidence of modest consumer spending slow down. We expect a decent holiday sales season, but an unspectacular one. The last three have been spectacular, particularly the last one.