75 Quotes by Richard Hastings

Gift cards are like proprietary currency issued by a retailer. The intention is to get a potentially new consumer to come in and trade in that currency and try new merchandise. We're seeing retailers across the spectrum doing as much as possible to promote them.

I expect this number to rise toward the end of the year. At the same time jobs and wages won't rise fast enough to offer relief to already overstretched consumers. This could hurt retail spending in the second-half.

If trade relations between the United States and China begin to deteriorate, and the dollar declines in a disorderly manner, then a minor thing such as raw cotton prices could become very important,

If spending on durable goods slows down, it could also weaken sales of consumer electronics, especially on big ticket items that have a higher profit margin but are interest rate sensitive.

I think it's kind of funny they're changing roles, but I'm also getting the impression that, over the past two years, there seems to be a trend to moving top management around so they get more well-rounded experience. I think that's a good move and maybe a part of the company's succession plan.

January is not just clearance month anymore. It's winter-season full-price selling, because Christmas and holiday merchandising is really promotional. These days, that's when you see the really deep discounts.

Retailers know that many people will wait until after Christmas for the big purchases. So they don't want to go too far into the holidays with excess inventory that they eventually will heavily discount.

Retailers have very big orders from vendors ready for delivery right before and right after Christmas. They want to look really, really good. That's when they come out with the richest displays of winter merchandise, and it culminates with Valentine's Day.

Our recent visits to some stores indicate better controls over displays, clutter, and shelf appearance, necessary steps to stabilize store aesthetics in support of their apparel initiatives.