- Shoppers Want 70% Off—and Something Fuzzy
- The Christmas Tree Indicator: Myth or Magic?
- Are Toys Too Pricey for a Recession?
- Rustling Through the Bargain Bin for Retail Stocks
- Blue Nile Turns to Discounts to Put Sparkle in the Holidays
- For True Love, It's the Most Expensive Christmas Ever!
- How Low Can Retailers Go?
- Scenes From The Mall: Picky, Picky, Picky
- Amazon Expected to Crush Rivals With 'Ridiculous Deals'
- Shades of Gray for Black Friday
- Congress And Automakers: Long And Difficult "Marriage" Ahead
- Great Companies Come at Fair Prices
- Yoshikami: Investing & the Obama Presidency
- Wall of Shame: Fortress Investment's Wes Edens
- Cramer to Geithner: Let FDIC Chair Keep Her Job
- Lightning Round: Boeing, Medtronic, Agrium and More
- Lightning Round OT: Continental, Amylin Pharma and More
- Sell Block: Cramer's Solution for Mortgage-Backed Paper Mess
- Toll Brothers CEO's Housing Outlook
- Economy Sheds 533,000 Jobs, Most in 34 Years
- Citigroup Sells German Arm for $6.7 Billion
- Charts Predict S&P Festive Rally Above 1,000
- BMW's Global Sales Plunge by a Quarter in Nov.
- What the Pros Say: S&P May Fall to 700
- Bleak Jobs Data Forecasts Add to Automakers' Woes
- Euro Shares Extend Fall after US Jobs Data
- European Stocks to Open Sharply Lower
- Toshiba to Briefly Halt Chip Output on Weak Demand
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.
How long can a slow economy mean good times at Wal-Mart?
The company is betting that the traffic boost from rebate checks will carry into June and that grocery sales will still be strong in the month ahead. That’s why they’re forecasting sales up between 2-4%. Costco [COST
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], BJs [BJ
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] and value-oriented stores all did well this May. Consumers still buy cheap basics during a downturn and the sales results are also boosted by gas and food price inflation.
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Anything truly discretionary is weak right now. That’s why Target [TGT
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] - which is dependent on apparel and home goods products (read: discretionary) - is forecasting that June sales will be flat to down 2%. That’s also why the department stores and specialty shops slumped in May
Here’s what I’m trying to figure out: Why did low-cost clothing stores like Aeropostale [ARO
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]and Children’s Place [PLCE
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] fare well while low-cost department stores like JC Penney’s and Kohl’s saw a dropoff in purchases? Is it simply that parents don’t cut back on their kids but they cut back on themselves? Or is this simply the result of a purchasing pattern that has teens/kids refreshing their wardrobes regularly while women don’t do it as much?
What do you think?
Anyhow, I’m on my way down to Bentonville, Arkansas to Wal-Mart’s [WMT
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] annual shareholders meeting. I’ll keep you posted on any big news out of the world’s biggest retailer.
Apparently investors, press and workers are all in store to hear Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban perform tonight. The rumor is that Miley Cyrus and possibly Journey will be the surprise performers during the meeting tomorrow...stay tuned.
Questions? Comments?




