34 Quotes by Michael Niemira

Now there's a shock. It's not just a penny this week and two pennies higher the week before. And the shock comes on top of the cumulative effect of all those pennies over all those weeks.

No doubt the financial markets are anticipating that something could change. Whether that happens this summer or later remains to be seen, ... There are some broader negatives in the economy right now but the they will take a long time to work through. For now, we can still get decent growth in profits even as costs rise.

Phase one, at least, met very modest expectations. It came late and it was uneven.

Basically, the consumer will hang in there. Unless there's some kind of a major problem, the consumer tends to be more passive and will continue to spend if credit is available.

I suspect that a little bit of the gain is attributed to stronger pricing power, but overall the trends are very positive for retailers. The message from these numbers is that momentum is on the retailers' side as we move into the holiday season.

I think initially the industry will try to keep the discounts more narrowly focused. The problem is, if sales don't pick up, retailers will start to spread out discounts to those goods not selling as well.

I think you have to read between the lines. In September, retailers say things are on- to above-plan, that's reassuring, even with easier comparisons for the industry. The tone will be important, particularly with some of the department stores. If you continue to hear below-plan sales, that would be worrisome.

I think there's less worry on the consumer, and our focus ought to be more: 'Does business, capital spending pick up?'... That's much more meaningful going forward.

Retailers needed to be promotional because of the energy story. We didn't really see any strengthening this season, but we didn't really see any weakening either.