Michael Niemira Holiday Quotations

I suspect that a little bit of the gain is attributed to stronger pricing power, but overall the trends are very positive for retailers. The message from these numbers is that momentum is on the retailers' side as we move into the holiday season.

We thought the shift in the Memorial Day weekend this year to about a week later than last year could hurt holiday sales. That was only an isolated case. I think favorable weather probably had more of an impact that brought people out to stores to shop.

With only 26 percent of households having completed their holiday shopping . . . this holiday season will certainly come down to the wire.

As the 'traditional' holiday selling season got underway on Friday, consumers headed to those retailers who provided promotions and discounts.

The strength was largely driven by promotions and did not provide as strong of a start to the holiday season as some retailers would have liked.

Procrastinating consumers and a late Hanukkah (December 25) helped to lift the holiday season's performance.

There was lots and lots of discounting this holiday season. From the beginning of November onward, it was very promotional and remains a backdrop for the season.

The consumer is still very cautious. There was underlying softness in November. It increases the worry about the holiday as a whole.

Increasingly, the post-Thanksgiving week dip has become a 'standard' part of the holiday shopping season. Although the latest week's decline was not encouraging, it was not necessarily worrisome as only nine percent of households have completed their holiday shopping.