Ok for family reasons I have not kept up with the economy

[nadinbrzezinski]

so how bad or less bad were the christmas sales?

yes, this matters

:-)

[kineneb]

1. from my totally non-scientific observations today...

not very well.

I was in Target in Woodland, CA (ok, not a really great retail area, but average)... 2nd day after Christmas, and there was still a lot of Christmas stuff on sale, and there didn't seem to be a great rush to buy stuff for next year. There were not even very many people in the store.

Back on home turf, the only big seller at Rite Aid seemed to be the bagged chocolates. There were stacks of candy canes, ornaments, and lights left, all at 50% off. I think everyone is self-medicating on chocolates this year. I know I did.

Hand me the peanut M&Ms and no one will get hurt.

[Mythsaje]

2. Our Target was up 20% from last year...

The company as a whole was up 9%.

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. 9% is actually respectable

heard that macy's et al were really up, but that the low end stores did not... second hand of course.

Family emergency and I have been completely out of the loop... for two weeks

[Mythsaje]

4. Our sales were through the roof...

WAY above corporate average.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. That is the way it is, and I am sure corporate will

disect what was done at your store to try to replicate it everywhere else

;-)

Expect some big whigs soon.

[Mythsaje]

15. It was ME!

My expert training techniques and genuine desire to help the customer.

:D

Or the ever-increasing popularity of cheap Chinese-made crap.


Something like that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. There you go

:-)

Use that to market your novels, oh wait, they are NOT cheaply made Chinese crap (don't count on it, a lot of printing is now moving to both Thailand AND China)

[Mythsaje]

21. So far I believe printing has been done locally. n/t

[catnhatnh]

5. A recent post indicates...

up about 2.6% until you factor in food and energy and inflation when it becomes either totally flat or possibly negative over last year....Merry Christmas,consumers....

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Hmm lackluster aye

I wonder how soon will the recession finally be declared?

[Selatius]

6. I believe I heard retailers were fretting over failing to meet expected sales numbers. In short,...

another lackluster year. The drying up of home equity probably also dried up the cash for x-mas presents. Credit card delinquencies are up, and home prices are still dropping down. I guesstimated several months out that it would be a shitty x-mas season in terms of sales.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. I know it has been shitty for me

but I produce a luxury product, so no shock there

[aquart]

23. I guess it depends on how "luxury" it is.

We always had a good season on an economic downturn. What we decided was that people knew they weren't getting the new car, the fancy vacation, or the yacht, so they had to console themselves. Otherwise, it made no sense whatsoever.

[Captain Angry]

10. Anecdotal evidence

The stores around me were all pretty busy.

Toys-R-Us was sold out of nearly everything. Try finding a chemistry set these days. All the stores want to stock are electronic noisy toys and crappy dolls.

Best Buy was full of people, long lines, full baskets.

That said, there was an article yesterday about the credit card companies seeing a huge year over year increase in the balance carried with over 30 days since payment. The concern is that people spent, but aren't paying the card down, and are now starting to lag into late payments.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Hmm if that is the case the pattern that led to 1929

is comming into sharper relief

[Captain Angry]

13. There are plenty of correlations to 1928-1929.

A lot of money is in a different market this time. In the late 1920's, large investors were pooling their money and were able to shift prices due to their size.

Now that money hides in dark pools, private placements, and such.

Some of the people that I know who run the investments for clients are seeing a lot of them moving into straight cash. These clients want to lose only to inflation while everything else eats it. Then they will buy at a very low price.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. hmmm why do the words

the best laid plans of mice and men come to mind?

[DaveJ]

19. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The youth of today are no wiser about debt for their elders' mistakes. The trend will continue as long as it remains legally endorsed by government.

[Captain Angry]

22. The youth (in general) learned from the TV, not their parents.

Advertising was perfected over the last 20 years. The younger folks have been surrounded with it since they were old enough to read. They've seen their parents spend like there was no tomorrow, and no bills. So many people pay with plastic, that kids who learn about money don't see the consequences since the money is never used anymore. The kids will never see the bill come due, and the check that's written.

I know SO many people who were babysat by the TV when their parents were there in the house. My family had one TV when I was growing up. The people I worked with that were my age had children. Each one had their own TV by 6 years old. When they need "quiet" time, it's just their way of saying leave me alone to watch the big TV, go watch your own.

What a mess.

[Selatius]

11. Here's an article.

Retailers in the United States opened earlier than ever on Wednesday, the day after Christmas, and cut prices with hopes of salvaging a holiday season that was falling short of already modest expectations.

Merchants were trying to lure bargain hunters and gift-card splurgers that could provide a much-needed boost during a crucial period. Gift card sales, which have been increasingly popular in recent years, are not recorded until shoppers redeem them.

"I was the first one in the door, so it was nice," said Shirley Vilhauer, of Bismarck, North Dakota, who was shopping at a local Kohl's and spent less than $25 on ski pants for her grandson and a baby gift for her niece's young son.

The International Council of Shopping Centers said Wednesday that same-store sales, or sales during the November-December period at stores opened at least a year, appeared to be coming in just below slim projections for a 2.5 percent gain, though it said that a post-Christmas buying could help restore the shortfall. That contrasts with a more upbeat assessment, following the spending surge at the weekend, from the council's chief economist, Michael Niemira, who predicted that holiday sales could at least meet forecasts.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/26/business/sales.php

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Thanks, not good

so when is the dreaded R word going to become official?

[Selatius]

20. After they run out of idiotic excuses, like that ever popular "jobless recovery" schtick.

Biggest load of crap I ever saw anybody shovel.

[grasswire]

18. my newspaper today said that online sales were down, too

...and that people were out on Wednesday picking up bargains using gift cards, which doesn't add more actual dollars to the totals.

[LeftCoast]

24. Be careful when you read the sales numbers

They can be very misleading. Retailers were drastically reducing prices in order to get customers to come in to improve sales numbers. Problem is, they may increase sales at the expense of profitability. The worst of all worlds would be if they reduced prices AND sales still dropped because then they're really in the hole.

I fully expect profit numbers to be pretty bad when they come out early next month.