This post is a.... one.... day.... sale....! One day.... one day.... sale!
"With a clunk, Macy’s opens the retail earnings season" by Anne D’Innocenzio Associated Press May 12, 2016
NEW YORK — Macy’s is acknowledging that there will be no consumer splurge anytime soon.
A gloomy holiday shopping season across much of the retail spectrum has seeped into a spring funk.
That is not what I was told, nor is it what government or economists have claimed since.
Is it any wonder why I'm tired of this sh**?
And after some startling numbers and projections from the Gap earlier this week and then Macy’s Wednesday, investors had seen all they needed to see.
Shares tumbled across the sector with the bulk of retailers yet to report quarterly earnings.
Macy’s stock plunged 15 percent to levels not seen in four years.
Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, and Kohl’s are all reporting this week, followed by Sears, Target, and Walmart the next.
If I see any of them in my Globe travels I'll patch them in below.
Macy’s Inc. slashed its profit and sales expectations for the year after a sales funk deepened during the spring. It reported its fifth straight decline for a key revenue measure, with the declines accelerating. Seven out of the past 10 quarters have now registered a decline in revenue at stores opened at least a year.
Against this backdrop, Macy’s announced it was accelerating initiatives to get shoppers excited. It announced plans to look for ways to cut expenses and plow that money into more sales help at the stores and online. And it’s expanding its offerings on exclusive launches, including one backed by Sir Elton John and Lady Gaga.
But while analysts say that Macy’s woes are emblematic of the department store sector, they also put some of the blame on the retailer itself.
‘‘The blunt truth is that Macy’s does not give consumers a reason to visit its stores,’’ said Neil Saunders, CEO of Conlumino, a research firm. ‘‘In many locations shops are simply not up to par; they are poorly merchandised, hard to shop, lack any inspiration, and have fairly mediocre customer service.’’
I'm shocked considering the TV ads.
Macy’s report, which kicks off the first-quarter earnings season for major retailers, raises fresh concerns about the consumer and the health of stores, even after companies aggressively closed lower-performing locations. Macy’s recently shuttered 40 stores. The Cincinnati chain operates about 800 stores.
It had appeared retailers were recovering after a brutal holiday shopping season as sales accelerated earlier this year. That trend appeared to stall in mid-March.
Or we have been lied to again.... and again.... and again.... and again and again and again!
The red flags from Gap and Macy’s follow a report last week from the owner of Victoria’s Secret, usually a strong performer, which showed that sales in April had stagnated....
--more--"
The Gap is junk?
UPDATES:
"A strong holiday shipping season and a couple of favorable economic situations temporarily turned around the financial fortunes of the Postal Service, officials said Tuesday. The post office reported a $307 million profit between October and December of 2015, as compared to a $754 million loss the previous year. That was in part because increases in holiday shipping during the first quarter of the fiscal year, which begins in October. But postal officials warned that without favorable interest rate changes and a postal surcharge that will expire in April, they would have had a net loss of approximately $700 million in the first quarter."
Watch out for the pile of pooh.
"Macy’s wrapped up a weak fiscal year on an encouraging note, but the nation’s largest department store retailer still sees challenges ahead. Macy’s, which also operates Bloomingdale’s stores, reported a 31 percent decline in fourth-quarter profits, dragged down by store closings and other costs. But the adjusted results beat Wall Street estimates and sales picked up in the final weeks of the holiday quarter as winter finally arrived, driving sales of coats and boots higher. A very warm winter early on plagued retailers during the most critical selling period of the year. But the company says that it doesn’t expect to see a key revenue figure turn positive until the fourth quarter."
Also see: Strike averted at Macy’s in New York
