“The expectation is that it's going to be a very disappointing season. Business never materialized, and when it did, it was right around Christmas. It was too little, too late, and I think it became way too promotional.”
“They must do something that's going to leverage traffic in the mall. They can't get totally away from fashion. They've got to come up with something else whether its making the jewelry area bigger or making the denim area bigger.”
“I think the retail sector is a great sector to buy because they don't have any of these Asian flu syndrome. I mean, all the things that are happening in Asia right now are positive to retailers because a lot of these retailers -- their cost will go down and they'll be able to bring goods into the United States at a lower...cost basis.”
“The early November period was rather sluggish but the good news is that the Thanksgiving weekend was superb and that really set the momentum for the holiday season.”
“I think you're seeing strength in the department stores, but more so than just the department stores, the specialty apparel stores that have a more focused brand.”
“The consumer in America is just spending and they're spending with abandon. It's very hard to find a pocket . . . where the consumer is not spending.”
“Any business they do on the Internet is going to be very profitable for them. They have the infrastructure. They don't have to create it. And additionally, the profit margins on their bras and underwear and lingerie are spectacular, while the other e-commerce companies have very narrow margins.”
“They reported much better earnings than we suspected. It was all based on Fingerhut being better than plan. Department stores were actually below plan, so the quality of that (earnings) improvement reflects better delinquency rates than anticipated.”
