Ellen Tolley Quotations

Looks like last-minute shoppers lived up to their high expectations.

From our consumer survey, we found that consumers plan to spend a little more this year than last, ... That's no surprise because consumers have a little more money in their pockets than they did a year ago.

Malls were packed on Christmas Eve. It will go down as one of the biggest days before Christmas on record. Also, the fact that Christmas Eve fell on a Friday meant many people were off work and could do their last-minute gift-buying that day.

There are always some people who will say negative things just to get attention from the press, ... Our forecast is realistic. It's not spectacular. There are some lagging factors such as unemployment and energy costs that could bring it down. At this time we don't anticipate changing our forecast.

These discounts are too good to pass up. But we think that these are planned sales and not at the expense of retailers' profits.

The one thing that October showed us is that consumers aren't afraid to spend, even in a slow economy.

This age group has high disposable income and not many bills. Young adults are growing Halloween into a major holiday.

There were a lot of people out in the stores this past weekend, and from the looks of things, it seems like a lot of people have a lot of shopping left to do. It's going to be a busy next two weeks,

It seems like this year it hasn't been as much of a challenge for retailers to find good quality holiday help. It seems like this year there are a lot of people out there looking for part-time work as well as full-time jobs. It's a great opportunity for people to make additional income and get their foot in the door.

The number-one aspect of the shopping season this year will be sales and promotions. If retailers can deliver good sales and promotions, consumers will buy.

It's important to remember that some people are working today and could decide to shop later or on the weekend,

Not many retailers currently give customers the option to claim rebates online. People like it when the rebate process is easy and hassle-free. This sounds like a good idea,

The consumer reaction to higher gas prices has been somewhat puzzling. There is no doubt that high gas prices cut into consumer income, but ... consumers are still spending and retail sales are growing more than expected,

In the grand scheme of things, we might see growth of 5.6 percent instead of 5.7 percent.

Certainly the president's tax credit and child tax credit checks helped to boost some consumers' disposable income, ... Also, many consumers are refinancing their homes ... which leads to a greater amount of disposable income, and the rising stock market is good news for investment-oriented consumers.

College students have money to spend, and stores are going all out. They have wandered into a gold mine,