- Could Going Solo Ruin Your Career?
- Commercial Real Estate Best Place For Money: Strategist
- Schork Oil Outlook: Nat Gas Bulls Didn’t Stand A Chance
- Enterprise Tech Companies to Focus On: Portfolio Manager
- Agassi Book Buzz Paying Off Early
- Cadillac Converj Smart Extension of Volt
- This Chemical Company Will Rally into 2010: Trader
- 3 Safe Investments That Let You ‘Sleep Better:’ Strategist
- Beware of 'Trampling Effect' When Market Tops: Manager
- Dodd: Financial Reform Bill Is Open for 'Discussion'
- Treasury Report Says $209 Billion Left in TARP Funds

- Commercial Real Estate Near Disaster: Fund Manager
- AIG CEO Ready to Quit over Pay Constraints: Report
- Macy's Loss Beats Estimates, But Shares Fall on Outlook
- Pay Caps Make it Hard for GM to Hire Execs: Whitacre
- Unemployment May Cause Loan Defaults in US: Zoellick
- UPS Sees 2010 Volume Growth, Higher Rates
- Just 1 in 20 Plan to Buy a Home Next Year: Survey
MOST SHARED
- China Signals That It May Allow Currency to Rise Against Dollar
- Short Sales Stall
- Gold Hits Record High Above $1,115 as Dollar Slides
- 5% of Americans Plan to Buy a Home Next Year
- Website Launches That Gives Free Access to Concerts
- Glaxo Wins FDA Approval to Sell H1N1 Vaccine
- UPS Sees 2010 Volume Growth, Higher Rates
- S&P Must Hit 1,101 to Stay Up: Charts
- Bring on Tougher Regulation: S&P Owner
This blog will look at the winners and losers in the retail space. Who has the right strategy to capture consumer dollars? It also will look for trends in consumer spending and how that will impact the economy.
![]() |
CNBC.com |
Why? Some stores reaffirmed earnings (JCP [JCP
Loading...
()
], WMT [WMT
Loading...
()
] , etc), and some investors decide to go bargain hunting. Sales results may not have bottomed but some investors believe we're close to a stock bottom in this beaten down category.
Today, meager sales were spread across luxury, department stores and the discounters. Now the pressure is on retail executives to manage inventory tightly (buy less, buy later from manufacturers), to merchandise just right (put things on shelves that will convince consumers to spend their budgeted cash) and, potentially, to restructure infrastructure.
Translation: making the hard decision to close stores and layoff workers (a la Macy's [M
Loading...
()
] and Ann Taylor [ANN
Loading...
()
] .) I imagine those sales associates working the floors on commission are seeing leaner earnings themselves.
The consumer is the first place an economic slowdown hits. January's sales results are proof of that. That said, the turnaround may not be upon us yet but it is coming. Analyst Dana Telsey of TAG forecasts that retailers can get ahold of inventory levels by the third quarter.
Questions? Comments?
- Bernard and Ruth Madoff's personal possessions will be auctioned this weekend. Click ahead to see.
- If you are lucky enough to have money and the time, this is a great time to see America, says CNBC's Jane Wells.
- Vote and suggest your own, and remember--there's a fine line between a hero and a zero.
- How the Lord’s Prayer would read if Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein were substituted for you-know-who.
- With 123 years of history, slogans and commercials, Coca-Cola is the most recognized brand on earth.
- The opening of a virtual pet store in “World of Warcraft” could prove a cash bonanza for Activision-Blizzard.












