Word: retail
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...brave the stores the day after Thanksgiving for the traditional early-bird specials may not be in a spending mood. Americans are facing higher food, gas and energy prices this year, expenses that make up close to 20% of the typical consumer budget, according to Bain & Company's retail holiday report. And many people are feeling the pinch from the continuing credit crunch, including higher mortgage costs and the depreciation in home values. "Consumers have the highest debt they have ever had with 24 months of negative savings," says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a national retail-consulting...
...Indeed, over the past decade home equity loans have helped finance a lot of big-ticket holiday purchases. And with that resource increasingly hard to tap, middle and lower-income shoppers probably will not spend as much on discretionary purchases. Forty-four percent of consumers polled in WSL Strategic Retail's How America Shops survey said they expect to spend less this holiday season. "This year customers won't trade up," says Cohen. "If I am a Target shopper I will stay there. Last year I was a Wal-mart shopper going to Bloomingdales because I felt good...
...everyone will lose out this Christmas. The very low and very high end of the retail market should be just fine. While middle-of-the-road stores like Kohl's, J.C. Penney and the Gap that have struggled in the recent past will probably continue to suffer, high-end stores like Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom's will most likely have relatively strong sales. "They have a moneyed customer and things happening in the world won't affect their lifestyle as much," says Michael Appel, managing director of Quest Turnaround Advisors. "Well-managed retailers who already have momentum...
...onus is on the retailer to get creative," says Corlett, of WSL Strategic Retail. That means text messages alerting people to sales, inviting customers in for exclusive shopping events or serving a complimentary breakfast to lure Black Friday shoppers, as Sam's Club will do to try to get the big day off to the right start...
...France's return to global glory. The country's angry, ambitious minorities are committing culture all over the place. France has become a multiethnic bazaar of art, music and writing from the banlieues and disparate corners of the nonwhite world. African, Asian and Latin American music get more retail space in France than perhaps any other country. Movies from Afghanistan, Argentina, Hungary and other distant lands fill the cinemas. Authors of all nations are translated into French and, inevitably, will influence the next generation of French writers. Despite all its quotas and subsidies, France is a paradise for connoisseurs...