Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
Stocks, Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Breaking Bad on Donald Trump Pump - 21st Nov 24
Gold Price To Re-Test $2,700 - 21st Nov 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks: This Is My Strong Warning To You - 21st Nov 24
Financial Crisis 2025 - This is Going to Shock People! - 21st Nov 24
Dubai Deluge - AI Tech Stocks Earnings Correction Opportunities - 18th Nov 24
Why President Trump Has NO Real Power - Deep State Military Industrial Complex - 8th Nov 24
Social Grant Increases and Serge Belamant Amid South Africa's New Political Landscape - 8th Nov 24
Is Forex Worth It? - 8th Nov 24
Nvidia Numero Uno in Count Down to President Donald Pump Election Victory - 5th Nov 24
Trump or Harris - Who Wins US Presidential Election 2024 Forecast Prediction - 5th Nov 24
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

U.S. Retailers Canary in the Coal Mine

Companies / Sector Analysis Dec 14, 2010 - 12:52 PM GMT

By: James_Quinn

Companies

Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleSome people have contested my statement that there are thousands more retail stores in the US today than there were in 2007. Yes, many mom and pop stores have gone out of business, but the big boys continued to expand in the face of reality. The mall based mega-retailers dominate the retail landscape in this country. Here is a partial list of the biggest retailers in the US and their store counts.


Just these nine well known retailers alone, have added 6,435 stores since 2007. Some of the stores were international, but the vast majority were opened in the U.S. This increase in store counts in the face of reality is the ultimate in CEO hubris. Inflation adjusted retail sales since 2007 in the U.S. are down 19%. This is a recipe for disaster. Americans must deleverage over the next decade. They have no choice. Their retirement savings levels are pitiful. They will be forced to stop buying crap. The boomers are leaving their high spending years and entering the forced saving phase of their lives, whether they like it or not. Every retail CEO in the country should recognize these facts. But still, they relentlessly expand. A fool and his company are soon parted.

The lifeblood of retail expansion is same store sales. If same store sales do not increase, any store count expansion becomes a death march. Below is a chart of the same store sales increases/(decreases) for November of each of the years listed for six of the largest well known retailers in America. With a base year of 2006, I've shown what the sales level for comparable stores is today versus 2006. This includes the outstanding growth year of 2007, before the financial crisis. Even a CNBC anchor should be able to realize that the "Best" retailers in America have lower sales today than they did in 2006.

Now for the kicker. Inflation since 2006 according to the BLS has been 10%. Therefore, on an inflation adjusted basis, sales for these retailers since 2006 are down by 7% to 17%.

Today, Best Buy reported atrocious 3rd quarter sales figures. Best Buy is rightly considered one of the best run retailers in America. The Apple iPad is a mass sensation. Consumers are supposedly spending again. The age of austerity is over according to the mainstream media. Best Buy's biggest competitor, Circuit City, went out of business two years ago. The world was its oyster. But somehow, the yellow brick road turned from gold to piss.

In the U.S., Best Buy’s same-store sales dropped 5%, while total sales fell 3% to $8.7 billion. The company estimated that its market share declined 1.1 percentage points, losing traction in TVs and gaming software, and it also expects its share for the year to decline. By categories, U.S. sales of consumer electronics, which make up more than a third of Best Buy’s total domestic business, fell 11%, while entertainment software sales, which make up 15% of the total, slid 14%.

 

It seems that the storyline being sold to the American public by the media is a load of bull. Best Buy is the first of many retailers to be blindsided by reality. Americans are running out of money. They've used up all the equity in their houses. The credit cards are maxed out. Wages are stagnant. Retirement years in a brown cardboard box awaits delusional Boomers unless they stop spending and start saving.

Best Buy's results are the canary in the coal mine. Delusional retail CEO emperors across America need someone to step forward and tell them they have no clothes. Continued expansion in this environment will lead to financial ruin, massive layoffs and bankruptcies.

Based upon history and the known hubris of most CEOs, there will ultimately be thousands of vacant rotting rat infested big box eyesores dotting the landscape over the next ten years. Maybe they can be converted to shelters for homeless delusional Boomers who forgot to save for their retirement. Ask the former CEOs of Montgomery Ward, Circuit City or Blockbuster if it can't happen.

Join me at www.TheBurningPlatform.com to discuss truth and the future of our country.

By James Quinn

quinnadvisors@comcast.net

James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. James has held financial positions with a retailer, homebuilder and university in his 22-year career. Those positions included treasurer, controller, and head of strategic planning. He is married with three boys and is writing these articles because he cares about their future. He earned a BS in accounting from Drexel University and an MBA from Villanova University. He is a certified public accountant and a certified cash manager.

These articles reflect the personal views of James Quinn. They do not necessarily represent the views of his employer, and are not sponsored or endorsed by his employer.

© 2010 Copyright James Quinn - All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

James Quinn Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in