Counter Culture

June sales results proved that discount chains are the ones winning the battle during this recession downturn.

According to ICSC’s monthly same-store sales survey, luxury stores experienced a 10.9% year over year decline in June, while discounters rose 5.1%. Wal-Mart’s 6.4% gain compared with Nordstrom’s 18.6% decline tells the plainly tells the story.
Continue reading ‘Discounters Rule the Retail Landscape’

Myron Ullman, J.C. Penney’s CEO and chairman, sees a tough retail environment that could lead to more bankruptcies, according to this Dallas Morning News article. There could be 10 to 20 chains that could fall victim, especially regional outfits, he said speaking recently at a Lehman Brothers conference.

Ullman says the stimulus checks that many taxpayers have started receiving might help retailers but concedes that high gas prices might have already sucked up those funds. He also says he is “cautiously optimistic” about the holiday season for his company.
Continue reading ‘Penney Chief Forecasts More Bankruptcies’

A tax rebate this year that President Bush recently approved would put between $600 and $1,200 in the hands of most taxpayers. And according to this article, many retail executives seem to think that this money will potentially end up in their stores.

“Wal-Mart and Circuit City are putting together strategies to draw in customers for what retailers say will be a bigger payoff than Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day,” the article says. Mike Ullman, the chairman at J. C. Penney, says stores “would obviously compete vigorously” for shares of this money.
Continue reading ‘Will Rebate Checks Help Retailers?’