Approaching the dreaded retail season
A dreary holiday season has been foreshadowed for months, but how bad is it really going to be? Stacey Vanek-Smith reports some figures have losses down $30 billion from last year, but not everyone will do so bad.
A shopping bag advertising a sale at Nordstrom (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
More on Retail
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Kohl's, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart release their quarterly earnings today. And with the holidays approaching, retailers are looking for any morsel of good news. Ah, but times are tough, as Marketplace's Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
Stacey Vanek-Smith: We know it's going to be a long, chilly Christmas for retailers, but just how bad is it going to be?
Retail consultant Burt Flickinger predicts shoppers will spend $20 [billion] to $30 billion less this year than they did last year.
Burt Flickinger: Last time we saw sales so soft was during the big retail recession of the early 80's.
Flickinger says nobody is being spared: Nordstroms, Best Buy and Ann Taylor have slashed prices 30 and 40 percent -- sales they usually reserve for the post holiday shopping season.
So, who is doing well? Flickinger says discounters who are offering something extra. Like H&M which is launching a line from posh designer Comme Des Garcons today.
Flickinger: As consumers are moving from full-price stores to off-price stores, U.S. shoppers are starved for deep discount stores like H&M.
And Kmart and Wal-Mart. Flickinger says their aggressive advertising campaigns and promotions have been very effective with this year's stingy shoppers.
I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From Newport, DE, 11/13/2008
"Stingy Shoppers" made me sad.
Unfortunately, I can't shop at Nordstroms. I lost my contract job at Bank of America because I had to take a longer maternity leave due to complications. Now I can only shop at the clearance section at Walmart since my family is on one income. I'm not stingy.
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.