Kurt Barnard Quotes (160 Quotes)


    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.

    The numbers today are nothing other than big generators of yawns.

    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.

    Everything will depend on whether they can get an extension of their credit and possibly additional credit to tide them over. If they don't get the credit, Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) is probably the only way out.

    I don't quite understand what the synergy is between the two companies, ... Boise makes paper and OfficeMax sells it -- that's obvious. But Boise hasn't been doing well, either. The real question is, does Boise understand retailing We'll see if this marriage is made in heaven or in hell.


    Consumer spending had been in decline before this awful tragedy happened. Now comes this additional damper, ... Considering we are living in state of shock, sorrow and sadness, we really can't expect people to just go out on wild shopping binges.

    Discounters have captured the world, ... They discounters all did very, very well, but it also underscores once again that it is chic to hunt for bargains and it is chic to save, and that is what the American public wants today, and probably wants forever.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    They are taking big bites of market share out of the sneakers. The sneaker business is a mature business that represents primarily a replacement mode. People mainly buy sneakers when the old ones wear out.

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

    Consumers are extremely cautious today, and that caution has not really very much to do with consumer confidence indexes. It's related almost exclusively to one item, one four-letter word jobs.

    Amazon's prospects, in my view, are at best limited. They may do some wonderful things, but the market isn't there. It's like a jockey beating a horse with three legs,

    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.

    The rest of the industry can take comfort from Wal-Mart's projections.

    As consumers become more comfortable with buying from the computer, ... and this new generation that has grown up with the computer comes of age, what we will see is huge dollar amounts of retail sales being transacted on the Web and we will see a lot of stores become increasingly Web stores.

    Investors may appreciate the chance to look outside the tech sector. We think that retailers who are able to cater to the home will do very well, ... Since the middle of 1998, we have seen a switch. Suddenly people spend proportionately more money on things for the home - on home enhancement, we call it - than they do on apparel.

    It is time that Manhattan got itself its first really splendid discount store, so the sale opens the door to the arrival of Target, or maybe even Wal-Mart.

    The weather was a factor and the effects of higher gasoline prices are finally catching up with retailers at the registers. Beyond that, I think we're likely to see softness for the next two to three months.

    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.

    Early indications show that store traffic and the promotional activity is at lower levels than last year at this time. I wouldn't be surprised if many retailers try to get away with selling merchandise at full price.

    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.

    The sales clear evidence of modest consumer spending slow down. We expect a decent holiday sales season, but an unspectacular one. The last three have been spectacular, particularly the last one.

    Bigger is better. Bigger offers more opportunities for increasing sales volume and increasing the customer base. It would give them an opportunity to improve their comparable sales performance.

    What we are seeing is that consumers' cautious spending is now stretching to the low-priced discount stores as well as to the other stores. ... Today, saving money is chic. Bargain hunting is fashionable.

    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.

    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.

    The name Burlington Coat Factory is a misnomer because they carry a full line of fashion apparel, including coats in the winter. It's basically an off-price operation. You get good value there, very good value.

    It's going to be a one-time pop, and it's not going to be much of a pop, either.

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

    The entire athletic footwear business is not doing well, ... Sneakers, the lifeblood of the business, have peaked and are on a downhill slide.

    Consumer spending is heavily devoted to hard goods. That implies for the most part that home-oriented things have been doing well for some time, ... Home sales have been skyrocketing. Every time a home changes hands, tens of thousands of dollars are spent on decorating, furnishings, adding new kitchens and bathrooms.

    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.

    The fashions did not appeal. They were not sufficiently exciting to sweep consumers into the stores, ... translates into a lack of confidence that there will be strong consumer demand in the second half.

    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.

    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.

    By shuttering the Marshall Field's catalogs, Target is saying something about its department stores business -- business isn't what it used to be, ... Part of the reason is that department stores overall are doing badly.

    Barnard said the weekend's mall and store traffic wasn't enough to change his forecast for same-store sales growth of 3.5 percent. 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.

    I think they're going to make those numbers.

    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.

    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.

    High-end stores depend on continued spending from clients that over the past four years have amassed considerable wealth, ... Sales at upscale stores like Saks and Neiman Marcus are also going strong because the stock market has been very customer friendly to this group.


    died many years ago, but (they) just weren't buried.

    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.

    Some companies are rushing to take advantage of the situation and consumers may want to buy these war products as souvenirs. But as more time passes, the novelty factor of such products is also likely to diminish.

    This is really the surprise of the year. We should have really anticipated it because suddenly the weather turned very cold.

    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.

    There's no question that competition in retailing is rampant and out of hand. It's getting increasingly difficult for companies to keep their heads above water. That's why the industry is getting into gear for more merger activity.


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