A Tale of Two Christmases

[Warpy]

Recent sales figures from the nation's largest retailers underscore the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Wal-Mart missed its November sales numbers, posting a meager seven-tenths-of-a-percent gain over November, 2003. The company had expected 3 to 4 percent sales growth. City saw a 3 percent decline in sales last month, and K-Mart's sales are likely to drop 10 percent.

"You have wealthy consumers spending in unprecedented proportions and the cash and credit starved consumers are suffering," says retail analyst Burt Fleckinger of the Strategic Resource Group.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/18/eveningnews/main661854.shtml

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At least one of the whore news outlets picked this story up, it's what I have been saying for months. The largest portion of the consumer market has been choked off. With that comes the choking off of the money pump up to the middle class and thence to the rich.

This is going to greatly increase unemployment at the first of the year. Hold onto your hats, folks, the service economy is about to collapse as people spend less and less on the things they can do for themselves. This is going to have a massive ripple effect, and the Bush junta won't have a clue what to do about it. Expect more tax cuts for the hoarders as their only solution.

[cornermouse]

1. Surely this can't come as any surprise to them.

They shouldn't even have to think about it very long to realize that when people are laid off jobs in mass, people stop spending in mass. Seems pretty simple to me.

As I see it, their choices are to find new markets/products to sell to, or go out of business, or start hiring people.

[Warpy]

2. No plutocrat ever hired a single person

unless there was a market for the goods or services first.

[mhr]

3. Unemployed 54 Months - No Christmas For Me.

Shopping, What's That?

[Muzzle Tough]

4. Maybe more people are boycotting Wal-Mart........

....... because of their terrible labor practices.

J.C. Penney has been doing very well recently. Sales are up, and their stock value has gone up. They treat their employees much better than Wal-Mart.

Maybe the people who are boycotting Wal-Mart have decided to switch over to J.C. Penney.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. maybe so!

[Still_Loves_John]

6. Isn't this a classic example of

inferior goods vs. superior goods? The idea that the market for generics, or in this case Wal Mart, does better when times are worse since people have less money, and that the markets for brand names, or higher end stores, do better when times are better because people have more money. If anything, this would be a sign that the economy is doing better.

I mean, the economy could definatly still do a whole lot better, but high econ 101 says this is a good thing.

[Inland]

7. Only if the economy is so good, the poor and low income

have disappeared to become rich. That is, a significant proportion of Walmart shoppers have become Sax shoppers (or at least Crate and Barrell) shoppers over a period of one year. Sound right to you?

Considering the data on unemploymnet and median income and the space of one year, it is much more likely that the Walmart buyer is still at Walmart but buying less of the generic, low price goods he was buying before.