All Posts Tagged With: "retail sales"
The Pitch – Do you think the economic rally has stalled?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Nov 10 2009 | 1 Comment
Do you think the rally has stalled?
Question:
The stock market really hasn’t moved too much one way or another for a few weeks. Do you think that the economic rally has stalled?
Answer:
I think that it has stalled for now, but that could be due to the poor reports coming out about unemployment. If you look at other factors such as retail sales (which were up for the past month) then the economy is doing a bit better in the way of consumer spending.
I think over the next few months, the rally will continue but it will be more gradual.
Have an idea or want us to use your pitch in the next issue? Then, make a submission on The Pitch Page. Related posts:
The Pitch – How often should minimum wage increase?
Tags: retail sales, the pitch, consumer spending
Christmas is coming early this year
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Sep 02 2009 | 0 Comments
A recent trip to the Dollar Store uncovered something kind of interesting to me; Christmas is coming early this year.
This summer’s retail sales were abysmal for the most part and it looks like even the local dollar store is trying to make up for any lost sales by starting Christmas sales early. Just behind the nearly cleaned out school supplies display at the front of the store, was Christmas decorations including lights, wreaths, and ornaments.
This year it looks as though Halloween is already over and Thanksgiving doesn’t really exist either. I don’t like Thanksgiving too much, but I will miss Halloween. One of the amusing parts about seeing the decorations at the dollar store was that there weren’t any Halloween decorations out yet. When I asked, they hadn’t gotten the truck yet.
It is not just the local dollar store that is trying to cash in on Christmas early this year. Other retailers have started to get their Christmas and winter merchandise and put it out on the sales floor hoping that anxious shoppers will start stocking up before the rush hits in November…nearly three months from now.
I am a big fan of getting Christmas shopping done as quickly as possible to beat any rush that I might have to fight with as the season approaches, but I am really not looking at buying Christmas decorations or gifts in August or September.
Related posts:Wal-Mart hopes to boost holiday sales with low priced toys
Save some time and money by shopping at a dollar store.
Tags: christmas sales, stock, season approaches
Seven places a college graduate can find work…what a joke.
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Wed, Sep 02 2009 | 2 Comments
SmartMoney has an article on its front page today talking about seven career fields that college graduates can work. The list is pretty good if you have an accounting, engineering, or computer science (IT) degree, but if you are anyone else things are not looking too good for you.
From the article:
That liberal arts degree isn’t a total waste. Various companies are looking for business or liberal arts students to fill their management training programs.
Rental car agency Enterprise?Rent-A-Car says it plans to hire 8,000 college grads by July, many of whom will start out at a rental branch in a customer service position and, within a year, move up to assistant manager, according to spokesperson Lisa Martini. L’Oreal and Macy’s are also seeking graduates to join their training programs, says Trudy Steinfeld, executive director New York University’s Wasserman Center for Career Development.
Wow. So, if you’re a liberal arts major you can start your life by working at a car rental place? I think that the “promise” of being able to be an assistant manager within a year is a complete joke.
Recently, I found a job that promised the same thing, but when I started talking to other employees about wanting to move into corporate to work in marketing all I got was a laugh. During my interview with this company, I was told that after about a year and a half I would be able to get a promotion (from a retail sales position at a department store) to area sales manager, it just moved up from there depending on if you wanted to have a higher store position or a corporate position.
Well, that all went out the window when I spoke to a girl who graduated with a marketing degree two years before I did. She was working the exact same position I was and was actually making $9 an hour, $1 less than I was.
I’m sure that there are companies out there that want to hire graduates to promote them, but I know at least one that is taking advantage of graduates on a regular basis. Besides, Enterprise wants to hire 8,000 new grads to move them into assistant manager positions? Does it have that many stores? Some of those graduates will be making minimum wage for a bit longer than a year.
SmartMoney: 7 Places Where College Grads can Find Work
Related posts:College graduates are finding work in some fields
The Five College Degrees you will see a good ROI on
How college can negatively impact your retirement
Tags: job, college graduates, rental car agency
Retailers are having a hard time moving summer items
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Tue, Jun 30 2009 | 0 Comments
While summer officially began just a couple of weeks ago, many retailers are already putting their summer merchandise on sale and to the clearance racks dismissing this summer as a complete wash.
Department stores like Macy’s have discounted summer clothing and swimwear down 50%. Other retailers have slashed the prices of barbecue grills, tents, gardening tools, and piles of clothing. Some of those items are going straight to liquidation rather than to the retail stores.
This is good for people trying to save some money, but it is a bad sign for retailers as it shows that retail sales have been weakening since the end of May.
Consumer confidence increased in April and May, but is predicted to level off for the month of June. The figures, which come out later today, won’t be helped by the major retailers releasing June sales results next week. Consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy and if consumers are worried about the economic condition, chances are that spending won’t increase too much in the near future.
Fall merchandise will start hitting shelves in August, so these retailers are trying to move summer merchandise to make room. This could mean that we’ll see more discounts like we did last year for clothing.
Some are blaming the weather, which has been particularly rainy for parts of the country. The rain has led to unseasonable weather. However, where I live, it has been unbearably hot with little rain to help. Then again, when I go through the “summer” section of any local stores, the shelves have been nearly picked clean.
Some are still worried about the economy and think it’s to blame for the lack of consumer spending. Employers are still cutting jobs (even if it is at a slower rate than the beginning of the year) and the average price for a home is still falling.
Related posts:Retail numbers were positive for October
What are retailers discounting right now?
Tags: retail stores, retail sales, hard time
Even after a record profit, Apple lays off 1,600 employees
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Apr 26 2009 | 1 CommentAfter a billion apps were downloaded and the company posted a huge profit, Apple is letting go of 1,600 employees at its stores.
Retail sales rose $20 million in the fiscal second quarter compared to the same quarter 2008, but the growth in retail net sales was less than the increase in number of stores open. This has led to “overstaffing.”
I don’t personally see how they can think that this is an overstaffing situation because every time I walk into an Apple store, there is a seriously flawed employee to consumer ratio. There are always way more customers than employees. The few times that I’ve been in a store, I have left because if I had a question, there was never anyone around to answer it.
Related posts:Note to Apple: It would be nice to be able to pick any app we’d like
Tags: net sales, second quarter, retail sales
