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Retail Recovery: Light at the End of the Tunnel
Expert Believes Retail Market Will Emerge From Recession by 2011
| Source: Author Darlene Quinn
LONG BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - October 21, 2009) - Darlene Quinn thinks that Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke sounds like a reverse Chicken Little.
"The head of the Fed has been declaring the recession is already over, even
if it doesn't feel like it," said Quinn -- a former senior executive with
the Bullocks Wilshire department store chain and author of the novel "Webs
of Power" (www.darlenequinn.net). "I don't think he's too far off track,
but some specific things have to take place in order for retailers to claim
the recession is over, and they aren't happening until 2011."
One Step Up, No Steps Back -- The first thing that needs to happen is
retailers need to be able to post a gain over last year's numbers,
according to Quinn.
"We have to post a gain of some kind," she said. "We can't move forward if
we don't stop the bleeding."
The Return of "Value" Shoppers -- "There are essentially three kinds of
consumers in the mass market," she said. "There are 'price' shoppers, whose
primary concern is the cost of goods. They are blue collar folks who have
tight budgets, so they shop at discount big box stores like Walmart. Then
there are 'luxury' shoppers who have money regardless of the economic
conditions. In the middle is the 'value' shopper, who middle class folks
who don't mind paying a few extra dollars for service and quality. 'Value'
shoppers became 'price' shoppers during the recession."
For true recovery to be imminent, the "value" shopper must head back to the
department stores, Quinn added.
"We need to see the 'value' shopper come back to the mall, and retailers
need to empower their people to the extra mile for them," she said.
2010: A Holiday Odyssey -- The final piece of the puzzle is the fourth
quarter of 2010, Quinn said.
"The holiday season after this one is where the rubber will meet the road,"
she said. "If we stop the bleeding this year, then should be able to walk
again by next year."
About Darlene Quinn
Darlene Quinn is an author and journalist whose novel, "Webs of Power"
(winner of the 2009 Indie National Excellence Award for Fiction), is about
the back-room wheelings, dealings and double-dealings behind the scenes of
a national retail chain.