Some stores finding deep discounts aren't enough

Tuesday August 17, 2010 ^

[EBH]

Even deep discounts on everyday items don't seem to be enough to get Walmart shoppers to bite these days, and other chains are worried Americans won't be in the mood to spend in the months ahead, which are critical for those companies....

...Teen clothes store Abercrombie & Fitch, which slashed prices on some of its jeans by 40 percent to get people to buy for the back-to-school season, ...

...At Home Depot Inc., sales are being driven by small repair projects, not big renovations, and weak spending has caused it to cut revenue forecasts for the year....

...Customers are having a hard time stretching their dollars to the next payday, and food-stamp use is still rising, the company said.

Middle-income shoppers are not faring much better. And stores can't even count on shoppers with jobs because of layoff fears. As for the affluent, they're holding up better, but wild stock-market swings have them a bit spooked as well.

[Terry Mross]

Talk about a dumb statement. Boiling their belts in 1929? The bad times didn’t get to “belt boiling” until a few years after 1929. It started in 1929. And it’s starting now. Therefore, the times are similar.

And I don’t think there was that much “belt boiling” going on. What I mean about tightening the belts is people aren’t spending. That causes lay offs. The CYCLE begins. Read and try to understand before you attack.

[Terry Mross]

All those things you mention that we have today is what will make it worse for us. Some of the people back then only had battery powered radios. Many had no electricity. My parents didn’t have running water. Those people like my parents had much better survivor skills because they WEREN’T fat and lazy like we are today and they didn’t have the comforts that we have. And that’s why it will be worse.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

All those things you mention that we have today is what will make it worse for us. Some of the people back then only had battery powered radios. Many had no electricity. My parents didn’t have running water. Those people like my parents had much better survivor skills because they WEREN’T fat and lazy like we are today and they didn’t have the comforts that we have. And that’s why it will be worse.

Good observations

[CommieCutter]

Here's your first projection-->

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I rarely go to Walmart but see food stamps every time I go. Well, they aren’t stamps any more. But everybody in line in front of me has been paying twice. First comes the staples of fruit, vegetables, milk, etc. They fill the food stamp coupons with those items. Whatever is left over gets paid for with cash, along with the games, candy, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Times are harder than 1929. Seriously, it’s rough. People are tightening their belts and the cycle begins.

You will be saying this again in 3 or 4 years, but with more feeling.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I can always re-gift my lump of coal. ;-)

[Screaming_Gerbil]

I rarely go to Walmart but see food stamps every time I go. Well, they aren’t stamps any more. But everybody in line in front of me has been paying twice. First comes the staples of fruit, vegetables, milk, etc. They fill the food stamp coupons with those items. Whatever is left over gets paid for with cash, along with the games, candy, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

So that's what is going on!

I thought they were using two different credit cards...

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

They don't issue coupons for food stamps anymore. To reduce the "stigma", as if most people have any shame anymore, they've gone to a nice anonymous benefits card, like this one we have for California.

[Terry Mross]

I’ll be afraid to say it again in three years. I got flamed for saying it this time.

[P.O.E.]

Decades ago one could keep hogs, raise veggies & potatoes, and shoot trespassers.

[Teacher317]

results in more unemployment, and those people in turn cut back their spending since they lost their jobs, which in turn can result in other retailers cutting jobs. It’s a vicious cycle.

One that ends thanks to counter-balancing economic factors.... that is, when the markets are allowed to react freely. With our government setting prices (wages are prices), protecting failures (with bailouts), and artificially helping jobs to be retained, markets are not so free to react... and THAT is what causes truly vicious cycles.

[Terry Mross]

And back then most didn’t have air conditioning...even in their cars. We didn’t get that until the sixties. We didn’t get running water until the sixties. I remember my brother and I hand pumping water to irrigate the garden. Today I don’t think I could survive without A/C. I’ve gotten soft.

[primeval patriot]

Teen clothes store Abercrombie & Fitch, which slashed prices on some of its jeans by 40 percent to get people to buy for the back-to-school season, ...

Not sure these images will post but...

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This fine pair of A&F "pants" is only $72.99, down from $109.

Looky here. A cotton t-shirt for only $49.89, down from $80.

And nice short sleeve cotton shirt to round out your look. Only $49.89, down from $80.

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40% markdown not bringing in the crowds, eh? I'd like to know the markup with regards to manufacturing and shipping this crap.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

I’m sorry about your getting flamed but if others were like me, they might have misunderstood your originals statement. I know that I misunderstood your original statement until you clarified it later, then I understood what you meant.