Kurt Barnard Department Quotations

With Wal-Mart it's still a wait-and watch situation, but Target's news is a little worse. The problem with Target is that its department stores are underperforming.

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.

I still say don't get your hopes up for the holidays. Yes, the specialty retailers did exceedingly well. Yes, the department stores look like they finally are getting their act together and yes, the discounters again came through with flying colors.

I still say don't get your hopes up for the holidays, ... Yes, the specialty retailers did exceedingly well. Yes, the department stores look like they finally are getting their act together and yes, the discounters again came through with flying colors.

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.

Despite the fact that it's a clearance month, we can still see strong trends. People stayed away from department stores and they broke down the doors at discount stores.

It was really the department store chains and the apparel retailers that took it on the chin with weak January sales results. But a couple of names in those two groups are guiding higher than expected, predicated on expectations of lower promotional activity going into spring.

If you didn't do well as a retailer in January, you stand out like a sore thumb. It was really a party for retailers, although traditional department stores didn't sit at the party table.

By shuttering the Marshall Field's catalogs, Target is saying something about its department stores business -- business isn't what it used to be, ... Part of the reason is that department stores overall are doing badly.