20 Quotes by Dana Telsey

Basically the economy is sluggish. We are seeing consumers resisting spending and the outlook for the second half of the year is not as bright as it had been. Even Wal-Mart said its second half will not be as strong.

Hard electronic retailers, like Best Buy, are seeing more of the tax refund dollars than specialty retailers.

Some of the names that fit into that context actually names like The Gap ( GPS : Research , Estimates ). Basic items like jeans and khakis, people certainly going there on a repeat basis.

You also wonder about the reaction to the spring line.

Typically, if rates increase, basically if we get the sense that we're more near the end of the rate increases than the beginning of the rate increases, that would certainly be a positive for our sector. Retail stocks are basically early cycle stocks. And if we get the sense that we are more near the end than at the beginning, the low valuations of these stocks will prove attractive to many investors.

With Christmas coming on a Sunday, most people feel they can procrastinate a little bit longer because they have until Saturday to finish up their holiday shopping.

We've had a wide variety of excuses, whether it be Princess Diana's funeral, the weather, El Nino... Bottom line is August was better than planned and it stole a little bit from the month of September.

Sometimes when retailers get big same-store sales increases, you have to look behind the numbers.

Projections for the Christmas season really haven't changed very much. While some of the retail stocks certainly have come back a lot, we haven't seen sales overall pick up dramatically. The good companies like the Gap, are still doing very well, while the companies that have been struggling continue to do so.