Ruh Row: Retail Predicted to be Down YoY Again

Folks were asking what the next leg down would look like. Well, it would be something like this... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/business/15school.html?ref=todayspaper Stock analysts at Citigroup are predicting a decline in back-to-school sales for the first time since they began tracking the figures in 1995. They estimate August and September sales at stores open for at least a year — known... [more]

Folks were asking what the next leg down would look like. Well, it would be something like this... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/business/15school.html?ref=todayspaper Stock analysts at Citigroup are predicting a decline in back-to-school sales for the first time since they began tracking the figures in 1995. They estimate August and September sales at stores open for at least a year — known as same-store sales — will fall 3 to 4 percent, compared with an increase of nearly 1 percent in the same period last year The National Retail Federation, an industry group, expects the average family with school-age children to spend nearly 8 percent less this year than last. And ShopperTrak, a research company, predicted customer traffic would be down 10 percent from a year ago. [less]