Richard Hastings Sales Quotations

There are five business days until the comparable-store sales figures come out. Stores will be assessing things, and we could see some warnings, if they haven't done well.

Sears did a superb job on seasonal holiday promotions in circulars and TV ads and enjoyed a strong November. Sears comparable sales gains compares favorably to last year when November 2003 same-store sales were down 3.6 percent,

New seasonal fashions brought out many apparel shoppers beating our sales expectations for some specialty apparel retailers. Overall, the industry is getting better at fixing short-term merchandising missteps, and October's cooler weather certainly brought out favorable reaction from many shoppers.

If spending on durable goods slows down, it could also weaken sales of consumer electronics, especially on big ticket items that have a higher profit margin but are interest rate sensitive.

July sales were weaker than expected. Summer can be a volatile season for retailers but I am a little surprised by the weakness in apparel. I'll be keeping an eye on discretionary spending going forward.

Wal-Mart's much slower rate of sales growth in November clearly shows this is a matured global business. As supermarket goods continue to increase as a percentage of sales -- and this includes consumables and perishables sold in big volume at Sam's Club -- we will expect to see a persistently slower rate of top line growth.

With Christmas Eve falling on a Friday, sales have the potential of being very intense.

Consumers have a way of pulling it together for the holidays. We could see weakness in apparel and footwear sales but electronics, entertainment products and gift cards could do very well in the fourth quarter.

The additional cash on the balance sheet from the asset sales will put Kmart in a position to further reduce debt and possibly buyback more shares in a move that could boost share prices further, ... At the same time, the big cash position will enable management to look at an attractive range of choices, including the possibility at some point in the future of a major acquisition.

If Wal-Mart's December comparable sales do go up 3 percent, that means they did much better in the last two weeks of the month,

I continue to believe that the effects of higher gas prices on the consumer are overestimated. Most of the important measures of discretionary spending such as furniture, lawn and garden and food sales held up nicely.