Kurt Barnard Consumer Quotations

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.