Kurt Barnard Strong Quotations

On the one hand he's extremely capable, a very strong manager, administrator and visionary. On the other hand he seems a bit remote from the field, ... He must absolutely acquire the sense of dealing directly with Mr. and Mrs. Consumer. Can he deal with someone who places an order for $10 rather than $10,000 or $10 million?

Kmart's earnings were lower than a year ago, and the reason why they were lower is because there is a lot of money being invested in infrastructure. But it's going to pay huge dividends in the future, ... Kmart is finally very excellently positioned to turn around and create a very strong place in the sun.

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.

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.'

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.

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.

What we are looking at is very strong and very necessary steps as the first installment of a Kmart turnaround, ... What he's doing right now is terribly important. It needed to be done, biting into the sour apple so to speak, in order to create a clear path for the future. I think Kmart is going to be customer-centric in the future, competitive in the market place and exciting to shop.

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's going to be a very, very strong day. No question about it. But the weather has me a little worried. The temperature has been way above normal and who wants to buy a heavy sweater when the temperature is 65 degrees?

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.

High-end stores depend on continued spending from clients that over the past four years have amassed considerable wealth. Sales at upscale stores like Saks and Neiman Marcus are also going strong because the stock market has been very customer friendly to this group.