223 Quotes by Kurt Barnard

The potential for Web sales is tremendous and it carries the potential of completely altering and upsetting over the next few years all channels of retail selling.

What J.C. Penney needs to do is to make the stores they do have palatable, pleasant to shop, and all of this needs to be done with an eye toward recapturing the market they've lost,

Sharper Image products also evoke the desire in customers to buy them. Granted that a $1,800 massage chair may not appeal to someone who just lost their job, but one reason that these kinds of high-end gadgets are in demand is exactly because some people want to pamper themselves and take their mind away from that kind of reality.

The jobs situation is still not resolved. Across several industries, inventories are rising, and we're seeing that consumers are trading down. That's an indicator that people are not beset with worries but they are turning cautious.

Until the unemployment picture improves, consumers will be very cautious about their spending habits. We think the second half of the year could also be difficult for the retail industry unless the job demand improves.

With gas prices the way they are and with people suddenly being burdened with monthly car payments, they are looking for bargains. People are taking their money from Bloomingdale's to Penney, Kohl's (NYSE: KSS - news ) and Target (NYSE: TGT - news ).

Their sales are terrible and their efforts to come up with newness that appeals to consumers and brings them back into the stores are failing. There's absolutely no indication that they have found a road back to health, and while they have very little debt, they do have too many stores. With that kind of a background, it's not difficult to envision a bankruptcy in the foreseeable future.

What we are seeing is that consumers' cautious spending is now stretching to the low-priced discount stores as well as to the other stores. ...Today, saving money is chic. Bargain hunting is fashionable.

Watch out for this company. It's telling us something. While most retailers sold indistinguishable products, Sharper Image sells exciting and unique things that people want to buy.