Bill Dreher Quotations | Page 2

The low energy prices are more beneficial than any tax break, particularly for discount shoppers.

There's no point in chasing sales if you're losing money on those sales.

I think there continues to be a very strong psychological impact with people worried about their own safety and the safety of their families. I don't know what's going on with this flight, but whatever it turns out to be, it adds a significant psychological impact on consumer spending and on how the stocks behave.

It was a mixed bag, ... What we got again, as we did in December, is this separation of winners and losers.

I really would be surprised if they filed. The part of the equation that is missing in a typical bankruptcy situation is that vendors are not clamping down on them. Vendors are not limiting the distribution of merchandise.

We have always been skeptical of their reverting back to their blue light roots in the stores and on the Web, ... Instead of emphasizing every-day low prices, it appears to emphasize one-time grab-bag bargains, which is not what the consumer wants right now.

Discount stores have really become an increasing portion of consumers' expenditures. Now there's talk of fluctuating energy prices, job layoffs, and people are looking for the best value possible. So we believe the discount stores are going to benefit disproportionately from the tax rebate. We expect Wal-Mart will be the leader in July.

Consumers were not in the holiday spirit up until the last week of the holiday season, when there was a mad rush for the store. And the big unknown is the result of that game of chicken, where shoppers waited until the last minute to get the best bargains and retailers held off.

I don't think it's a Wal-Mart problem. It's a demographic problem. If you were focused on the moderate-income sector, you were disappointed.

It would be considered a non-operating item and really will have a very limited financial impact as far as analysts are concerned,