Posted on 12/26/2008 5:34:47 PM PST by An Old Man
Edited on 12/26/2008 5:35:48 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.
Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts, total retail sales, excluding automobiles, fell over the year-earlier period by 5.5% in November and 8% in December through Christmas Eve, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I'm a thinker and I'm doing just that. I've stopped buying much of anything (found that I have way more than I need at the moment) and I'm not going out looking for new business. I'm on hold until I see how this plays out.
Florida:
Burdines, Richards, Jackson/Byron’s, Zayre’s, Jordan Marsh Dept. Stores
Food Fair, Pantry Pride, Woolley’s, Grand Way, Kwik-Chek : Grocers
Fedco, Eckerd Drugstores
"A record-breaking fall in industrial output figures for November showed that the country’s huge manufacturing economy is collapsing far more rapidly and painfully than even the bleakest market forecasts believed possible. The 8.1 per cent month-on-month slide — a dramatic collapse from the 3.1 per cent decline logged in October , stunned many economists. Richard Jerram, of Macquarie Securities, said that the pace of collapse had almost gone beyond the point of sensible analysis.
Seems an 8% month on month decline is "a pace of collapse had almost gone beyond the point of sensible analysis"
Buying more ammo tomorrow....
The trick is to put your "want" items on a list, and check the prices a few times a week. If you're willing to wait for months, there will be an unannounced ridiculous price drop on that item, sometimes 50% or more.
I guess it depends on what kind of truckload deals they are able to obtain from the manufacturer.
When did Eckerd Drug go out of biz?
I’m still waiting for my Springfield XD9 to come in. I’m on the waiting list.
No wonder retail sales have plummeted. They’ve been telling everyone for an entire year+ that the economy is the worst ever, that everyone’s losing their job, and that we are in a crisis.
Also, there’s nothing new under the sun. Who wants another pair of jeans, another gadget, or another gizmo?
They’re trying to make this the worst ever economy, so they can claim having saved us from the end of the world, but it’s just not so.
It’s always come down to odds. And the system is more sturdy than folks suspect — though they’ll be a lot of people let go along the way.
Business is not as complicated as people make it seem. Simply figure out a way to make money for the employer and you have a job for as long as you want one.
It'll get my attention when they start giving stuff away.
Otherwise, no sale for now.
Use your gift cards as quickly as possible.
By Hideyuki Sano and Yuko Yoshikawa
TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Export-reliant Asian economies showed more signs of weakness on Friday, with Japan's industrial output diving at a record pace and South Korea warning it faces an "unprecedented crisis" as global demand wilts.
Even the once unstoppable Chinese economy is feeling the strain, with companies recording a sharp slowdown in profit growth in the first 11 months of the year.
On top of Japan's steep fall in industrial output in November, core consumer inflation fell faster than forecast last month, putting the shrinking economy on course for a spell of deflation next year.
[snip]
The lines tonight were long at Walmart in my area.
Me too. I walked out of Walmart. Plenty of politically correct help wandering about, but none at the checkouts.
Put my items aside rather than put in 20 minutes.
My experience at wal Mart to a T. I gave up of them for the most part over 5 years ago. I hate waiting in line. Even more so when 20 people in one line and 25 other lanes not open.
We did spent money of the kid but cut back there some also.
Add Crazy Eddies - Our prices are insane!!!!!
I just saw an article about retailers and one about commercial real estate, both applying to the feds for a bailout.
I think Walmart and Fred Meyer here on the West coast did well....stores were packed....the economy is not so bad where I live...eastern washington.....
Eckerds was bought out by J.C. Penney in 1996. In 2004 they split it up three ways. So depending what part of the country you live depends on who owns and runs the former Eckerds. In the south CVS bought majority of the Eckerd stores.
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