Kurt Barnard Demand Quotations

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.

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.

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.

Demand is great simply because home sales have been going through the roof, and every time a home is occupied for the first time, usually tens of thousands of dollars are spent on furnishing it and refurbishing it,

There's tremendous demand for anything related to gardening, horticulture. It means dollar signs at the cash register.

Sharper Image products also evoke the desire in customers to buy them. Granted that a $1,800 massage chair may not appeal to someone who just lost their job, but one reason that these kinds of high-end gadgets are in demand is exactly because some people want to pamper themselves and take their mind away from that kind of reality.

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.

If demand should continue to plummet, a lot of retailers will find themselves with too much inventory on hand despite their course of caution. A lot of retailers are cutting back on inventories, canceling orders, in virtually every single area of retail.

The magnitude of the demand tells the retailer how to act and what to do. If a product is hot, clearly there's not going to be a markdown. But if demand suddenly slackens and there's still a lot of merchandise left in the store on that particular day, they will mark it down.

The magnitude of the demand tells the retailer how to act and what to do, ... If a product is hot, clearly there's not going to be a markdown. But if demand suddenly slackens and there's still a lot of merchandise left in the store on that particular day, they will mark it down.