Originally Posted By queenbee I hope you're right Sport Goofy. If inventories are low, perhaps there will be fewer lost jobs. I thought I read that stores were having to deeply discount items in order to just move them off of shelves. Maybe it's just me and my personal experience, I felt like I got more for money this year.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA To me, there's too much duplication in retail. Too many stores are essentially exactly the same as a competitor. It's no wonder one if them goes out of business. Home Depot and Lowe's = same Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens & Things = same Brookstone and The Sharper Image = same Borders and Barnes & Noble = same Marshall's and Ross and TJMaxx = same Circuit City and Best Buy = same Petsmart and Petco = same Pier1 and World Market = same Payless Shoes and Shoe Pavilion = same It's not exactly the same, but it is a bit like the 'How many 'Disney Store' locations does the world need? As it turns out, not as many as Disney had hoped.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I thought I read that stores were having to deeply discount items in order to just move them off of shelves. >> That is also true. Stores bought less inventory, but are still having trouble unloading it all.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <But wouldn't that be already reflected in the 1% decrease? The only way it would not be (that I see) is if retailers were actually selling MORE items, but selling each item with a lower profit. I doubt that is happening. I have a hard time believing anyone is selling more items than last year (with the possible exception of HD TV's). < nope - have to do the math if a retailer sells 100 items @ $1000 each and profit is $500 each - profit + $5000 to use to pay bills etc. total sales $10,000 / profit $5000 However if a retailer sells 200 items @ 500 each -- and cost is $500 ( see example above) revenue is still $10,000 but profit is ZERO. that is closer to what's happening - reatilers are dumping inventory because they are paying interest on it while they have it - while it fixes one end of the cash flow problem - there is no profit to reinvest - yet revenue numbers would be flat.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ Okey dokey. You can tell I've worked at the University forever. I was just looking at the gross margin and was not taking overhead into account.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I am all too aware of 'overhead' as that is what my role and many jobs are considered at companies - LOL !
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^^^^ LOL ! unfortunately appears to be the sales strategy for our auto manufacturers
Originally Posted By DyGDisney >>>Pier1 and World Market = same<<< Au Contrair, they are very different animals. World Market is far superior if you are looking for unusual food goods, Pier 1 is more home decor/dishes. No food goods, except a little at Christmas time BTW, don't know if I spelled Au Contrair right, or even if I used it right!! Check out World Market if you have one in your area, fun store!
Originally Posted By fkurucz I recall reading that World Market is one of those retailers that might not survive beyond 2009.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Quick everyone go and buy the curly wurly's so they don't go under. Actually my kids really do like going there and seeing where stuff started as far as food an candy.
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^We went a few days before Christmas. All the Christmas goodies (of the edible variety) were 50% off.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "^^We went a few days before Christmas. All the Christmas goodies (of the edible variety) were 50% off." I could have written the same thing for Disneyland. We went Christmas Eve morning and all Christmas merchandise was 50%, and had to have been for a while. It was just on a few select shelves and selection was sparse.
Originally Posted By fkurucz There was still a pretty decent selection at World Market. Of course at half off the prices were barely reasonable, but that's another story.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<That can't be a good sign!>> And it wasn't busy at all. This was on the Monday before Christmas.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE many companies are hit hard...sony is launching a new gimmick to get you to buy, they are in big trouble. and deals are now there to be made..
Originally Posted By fkurucz Hyundai is offering a deal where they buy back your new Hyundai within a year if you lose your job. And another 600,000 jobs were lost in December. We just had a mini layoff in my group.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Hyundai is offering a deal where they buy back your new Hyundai within a year if you lose your job.*** Smart move. After all, who can get financing for anything ELSE (even used) if they DO lose their job? If people need wheels, they'll probably try to keep what they've got in that situation (I would!).
Originally Posted By alexbook >>as a former buyer for a major retailer I can tell you that at 50% markdowns, retailers are still making a nice profit.<< Talk about over-generalization. Some items get marked up massively by retailers; others don't.
