Kurt Barnard Retail Quotations

The potential for Web sales is tremendous and it carries the potential of completely altering and upsetting over the next few years all channels of retail selling.

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.

With this kind of weather, we've now had this for some days, I think you'll find retail sales will reflect a cautious attitude on the part of consumers,

The only way to grow in the retail business is to add yet another 100 stores, another 600 stores. Then someone else will see that you are successful. And that other fellow will do the same. And for a while it is fine, until suddenly there are more stores than the community needs.

Retail sales will have taken a hit Thursday afternoon and then on Friday, when lots of people can't get around and the last thing on their minds would be going shopping.

Retail sales of Martha Stewart products won't suffer in a terminal way because right now Kmart needs Martha more than Martha needs Kmart. Her products are selling well because people really like them.

From what I've seen, Sears is well underway to making itself into a more efficient and a more pleasant-to-shop retail establishment. It is likely to become a powerhouse in the mass-market arena and perhaps look a little bit like a combination of a large discount store and Kohl's.

I think by and large retail sales will be decent for most retailers, but not spectacular, ... Most will come in with same-store sales very much below the formidably high same-store sales of last year.

Last weekend we saw a massacre. There were a few shakeups in the top ranks of some retail names, and that's to be expected.

Last weekend we saw a massacre, ... There were a few shakeups in the top ranks of some retail names, and that's to be expected.

Remember, there are still over 2 million unemployed workers and over 5 million are on part-time jobs. Christmas will be moderately better simply because last year was so bad. But unless this jobs picture improves, it's hard to say that the retail industry has finally turned the corner.

plays itself out on Main Street U.S.A. in the form of muted retail sales.

Most retail sales were relatively decent, but were achieved with the help of deep markdowns which will show up as heavy pressure on gross margins, and that is going to be reflected in the earnings,

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.

When the full story is reached at the end of the quarter, retail profits will be less impressive, especially in apparel. There was nothing in the display windows (of clothiers) to incite cautious customers to buy.

What Sept. 11 has done to the economy is to accelerate, hasten and deepen the decline, but the decline existed before. The attack gave it the extra push in terms of retail sales. If you don't have a paycheck coming in, it doesn't matter how much cost of gasoline has gone down.

February sales were very strong, stronger than anticipated in many instances. I will tell you that if you were a retailer in February and did not do very well, you stood out like a sore thumb. We're telling our clients that the first half of this year will continue to be marked by continued strong spending at the retail cash register.

The thing that drives retail sales most and best is job availability and the ease of obtaining new jobs. Both of these factors are absent at the present time. It may not be until the end of the year that we see job growth.

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.

Americans have become very cautious spenders, and that was extremely evident in May. Retail sales will continue to advance, but very slowly, very cautiously.

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.

It's going to continue on this level for some time. Maybe if the weather really improves, we'll find a little pop to retail sales, but even if it does improve, there will still be the contraction in the economy.

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

All I can tell you is that we've had some information that April retail sales were somewhat disappointing for some chains,