Kurt Barnard 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.

Watch out for this company. It's telling us something. While most retailers sold indistinguishable products, Sharper Image sells exciting and unique things that people want to buy.

We found out, from talking to consumers and store operators all over the country, that low-dollar items went very fast. Forget about high-end items.

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.

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,

We're seeing the consumer back at the discretionary counters and that is good news for the entire industry.

We're seeing clearance sales that are early by at least three to four weeks. Going back to the beginning of summer they had a lot of inventory on hand and they need to get rid of it, ... Second-quarter earnings are going to reflect the markdowns. Everybody has been caught in the downdraft.

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.

The problem with Target is a problem facing every retailer. The price of gas is coming down, but home heating oil is going to be a major problem, ... A lot of consumers are worried.

There are a lot of companies out there whose essential business operating concept is past its prime and therefore their comparable sales are on a gradual decline.

We were dealing with a very cautious, very careful consumer who was not really inspired to buy anything because there wasn't anything worth buying.

There are two conflicting forces at work on the consumer. One is people have jobs, they have money, the unemployment rate is still at a 30-year low of 3.9 percent, a lot of economic circumstances are very, very favorable. A lot of economic circumstances are very, very favorable, people have money and jobs, but they don't have as high a discretionary spending level as they did a year ago.

Sears is on the way back to health. They're doing a good job (of cost cutting) and they are offering customers a good, recognizable value and customers are responding.

Sears is now giving evidence that its new marketing strategy and new slogan work very effectively.

So far, this has turned out to be the year's great bargain hunt,

Shelf space is diamond-encrusted gold. It's exposure to the consumer and everyone wants exposure to the consumer. They each had a lot of economic power before, but with the marriage they'll have a lot more power, power to get shelf space, preferred positions, all of that.

One area that could suffer greatly may be her magazines because advertisers will pull out if this goes badly for her.

No one should come to the conclusion, as some people have already done, that this is going to be a disastrous holiday sales season for retailers. For most, it's going to be a decent sales season, but it will fall for most below the levels achieved a year ago.

One word - dismal. There's nothing else to be said but absolutely dismal.

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.

People will be jamming the stores, trying things on, ... and developing their Christmas lists. While many (gift) decisions will not be made, the foundation for many decisions will be made.

Pet food is something that a lot of people need. Clearly, you are exposed to a lot of other things that are in the store. Let's put it this way: the lady might come into the store to buy pet food and might end up buying pet food and some lipstick.

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?

One of the reasons why stores did not do better than they did is because there were not enough new designs, not enough new fashions.

If this is a hot summer, we are going to see an overwhelming number of air conditioners sold, ... And even if it's not a hot summer, air conditioners will be a hot seller.

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.

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 expected the spending forecast to be more buoyant. But it could be the case that NRF is curbing their enthusiasm a little now,

If you are hooked onto a kind of lipstick, or any other kind of cosmetic, you will go back to that store again and again. And once you do, you're exposed to all the other things that the store carries.

He (Loeb) has been in charge for a long time. He is basically ready to step down.

Whatever they've tried is not working. It's really a matter of how they have tried to do things, ... J.C. Penney management is essentially a multi-headed hydra. It's the kind of situation where decisions have been made very, very slowly, and after a decision has finally been made, the need for the decision is gone.

Whatever strengths fashion apparel did show came from deep markdowns.

What we are suffering from is the slide from the exuberant high we had a year ago at a level that was completely unsustainable, ... I will also tell you retailers are going to be up against far more favorable numbers, easier numbers.

Today, (consumers) are beginning to realize they have to do some buying, but there isn't that much money yet after gas and what they've already bought at Wal-Mart.

There is an exceptional dearth of hot, must-have items. So what people are turning out for is the hope that they'll stumble upon something they can buy and give.

Halloween has become in recent times a little more of a retail-type holiday than you've seen it in decades past. It's becoming a little more important not just for sales of scary masks, but there generally is more traffic into the stores. It's sort of the beginning of fall, something like the precursor for what's to come.

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.

Kmart is in a condition of repair right now, ... It is almost surprising they are down only 2 percent. They have a huge amount of over-age inventory they have to unload.

Just remember one thing - the competitive world around Home Depot is changing. Lifestyles are changing. He has stay not just on top of those changes, but a mile ahead of them.

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.

It is a coming back down to earth. About two or three months ago, the world was swept up by the notion that the economic recession is over and the good times are rolling again. That meant consumers would be knocking down the doors of retailers the way they did a few years ago. But guess what? It ain't happening.

I think the NRF forecast is hopefully optimistic. I don't see a pickup in sales until the pace of layoffs slows down.

I think the NRF forecast is hopefully optimistic, ... I don't see a pickup in sales until the pace of layoffs slows down.

I think the name Firestone is a bad odor, period. I would not be surprised if this were going to be the end of a long, long, long, old established company. For them to recover, it's not going to be a very easy thing to do.

I think the future lies in two different kinds of Internet players. The one is the bricks and clicks, and that will be the dominant factor in the business, ... The other one will be highly specialized pure play click operations that carry things, do things that are simply not available elsewhere through other channels.

Lampert signaled a long time ago that he wanted a major role for himself in the actual running of the company. That's apparently what he's doing now.

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.

I think ultimately they will do better than they have done in some years, ... There's no question the much more attractive stores will pay off in terms of improvement, but will they be able to come through with big earnings? The jury's still out.

I think that they reached the point where something had to happen to Burlington Coat. (CEO) Monroe Milstein was not active for quite sometime, and I think it was mostly his sons running the company. I think his sons were running out of ideas. They weren't expanding and they felt it would be too much of an effort to make the company shape up and be competitive.

I think that Jupiter's conclusions are, absent documented evidence of this development, somewhat optimistic, ... They (consumers) do their research on the computer, then they buy in the store, but they're not going to buy more than they had planned to buy. They might buy different things from what they had planned to buy, but there are only so many dollars to go around.

Kohl's did a few things that made the shopping experience easier, ... They introduced shopping carts, centralized checkout counters and an easy-to-shop store layout.

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.

I think Conaway is a good retailing executive, but he made too many mistakes at the very beginning of his tenure at Kmart. It is quite possible that his background and length of experience did not sufficiently qualify him for the immense job he was taking on.

People are buying things they believe are essentially investments. They are buying homes and cars instead of buying jeans, shoes and toasters.

People are more inclined these days to make themselves rely on one salary instead of waiting for a Wall Street home run, and that is the background of the economic environment.

Penney is continuing a three- or four-year downfall,

People are not going to go on buying binges. People are deep in debt and deep in hock,

Retailing and consumer spending are a function of a four-letter word -- jobs. And there are no jobs being formed in the United States at the present time. We are in an unfortunate labor climate, one that might be called not at all propitious for retail spending.

Retailers know that for a lot of consumers, this is a time of uncertainty about their jobs, ... This will make them frugal with their holiday shopping and they will be on the hunt for the best deals out there.

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.

Rebates are wonderful to the extent that they are executed, regardless of the deficit.

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.

I think they're going to make those numbers.

June was a difficult month for retailers and it's also typically a month during which comparable sales are driven by discount sales.

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.'

July was a washout, a bust, whichever way you want to call it, unless you were a discount retailer,

July sales numbers are not going to be very good, maybe a tad better than they would have been without the checks,

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,

The 5.7 percent projection is not too much out of line, but it is at the higher end of projections,

The anecdotal evidence would indicate that traffic was not excessively busy. And what consumers were looking for was the sales sign. They looked at the price tag before they looked at the product.

The anecdotal evidence would indicate that traffic was not excessively busy, ... And what consumers were looking for was the sales sign. They looked at the price tag before they looked at the product.

You just can't compare the impact of a large number of sales of flashlights, which may cost $2 to $4, with lost sales, for example, of hundreds of pairs of shoes, each costing $50 to $200.

While consumers did go to malls in July, they did so to be in air conditioning but didn't make many purchases.

We have had a series of rate increases since last year, and so far we have not felt any impact on retailing off all of these increases. However, eventually something will have to give. I would predict that, say towards the end of the year, the fourth quarter, the very all-important holiday fourth quarter, we are going to see that the rate increases will finally take a bite. And that could be a comfort to retailing.

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.

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.

We are now combining ... American history with modern technology and modern contemporary lifestyles.

We are really seeing a cautious consumer who is cutting back on discretionary spending.

The outlook is for a muted third quarter, and also fourth quarter. It's not getting any worse in our opinion. We believe that consumer spending has essentially bottomed out. That does not mean consumers are ready to go on a spending spree or a buying binge. Things are likely to remain at their current level.

What we have seen is a continuation of an economic downturn accompanied by a downturn in consumer confidence and employment that started and gathered speed long before Sept. 11,

Tommy is in trouble, ... The casual wear market is already saturated and profits are slumping. Let's see what Dyer can do.

Tommy has one problem and that is his name. There's no excitement left. It has become, for many young people, boring.

Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal. There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.

Wal-Mart's news is a very big deal, ... There's no doubt that a significant number of consumers are shopping paycheck to paycheck. Most are also waiting for price reductions because they know that the support of another tax rebate or tax reduction is unlikely. So saying that the consumer is still cautious is a good indicator that the holiday season will only be moderately better than last year.

You don't pay $200 for a pair of shorts,

Today's (consumer confidence) numbers do very little other than to simply confirm what we had predicted some time ago, that a consumer spending slowdown is basically inevitable so long as the employment climate remains as stagnant as it is,

The demand for the 'luxury look' is back. Americans want to be fashionable and elegantly dressed but that doesn't mean they want to go broke in the process, ... Consumers know that they can get that well-dressed look for an affordable price, and that's why the specialty apparel chains like Gap ( GPS : Research , Estimates ) and Ann Taylor ( ANN : Research , Estimates ) are performing well.

While Saks is trying to make itself even more exclusive and pricing its goods even higher, the Neiman Marcus stores are going in the other direction and trying to attract a larger group of consumers. Today's development shows that competition in the luxury space is being ratcheted up a notch.

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.

This trend is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. Growth will continue and will be very strong, but it will be more moderate than it was last year, ... Make no mistake about it - this growth will continue. Consumer spending will continue to grow, but it's not going to suddenly stop or go back. It will continue at a more reasonable pace.

While it's true that Sears is stuck in a sales slump for a long time, the retailer has also been in a restructuring mode, ... By getting rid of the credit business, it can finally devote all its resources to its core business. I'm convinced Sears will deliver impressive results in the next six to 12 months.

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.

Upscale stores have done very well because their customers have been fortunate to amass a bit of wealth, so they're not worried about their jobs. But people who live paycheck to paycheck have to be careful, and they look at the price tag before looking at the product.

There is spotty evidence that in some stores inventories are running low, but considering that the action that's in the stores is not particularly hot these days, that (low inventories) may not be the worst possible fate. In many cases a lot of stores reduced the orders they placed, and in some cases, canceled orders, which is exactly what's happening.

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.