In the News

U.S. retail-sales data go dark at a tough time for investors

Posted on by katiecmorgan
U.S. Commerce Department/Bloomberg

The U.S. growth outlook hangs more than ever on American consumers’ resilience amid stock-market swoons and trade-war tensions, but key data on their spending — the biggest part of the economy — will be missing due to the government shutdown.

Was it a gangbusters Christmas shopping season as forecasts and anecdotal evidence suggested? Were consumers making big discretionary purchases in addition to essential spending as they entered 2019, even as some surveys showed confidence was waning? The answers will have to wait, as December retail sales won’t be released as scheduled Wednesday, Jan. 16, while the Commerce Department remains closed. Failure to reopen soon also would delay personal income and spending data, due Jan. 31.

Together, those reports constitute the most widely watched measures of household consumption, which accounts for about 70% of the economy. The disruptions come at a challenging time: Plunging regional gauges of U.S. manufacturing and business surveys indicate a slowdown in growth, and some big-name retailers have issued warnings about mixed holiday results.

While the solid job market remains a bulwark and consumers are in good shape, more — not less — information is needed to assess if the economy faces bigger-than-anticipated risks, one reason investors are nervous and Federal Reserve officials have emphasized patience in raising borrowing costs.

With no end in sight for the shutdown, a burgeoning concern is that data may not just be delayed, they may also not get collected as normal, Brown said.

For now, investors and analysts will have to rely on a patchwork of data. The Johnson Redbook report showed December sales rose from a year earlier, though it tracks a limited sample of results. The Retail Economist‐Goldman Sachs weekly chain-store sales figures are another source. Other groups provide clues on individual sectors, such as the National Restaurant Association’s monthly index.

Without the government’s retail report, it’s also tough to accurately gauge how consumers are spending on big-ticket items such as cars. Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley said he’s “concerned” about the shutdown’s impact on the company’s efforts to introduce crucial new heavy-duty pickups.

The delay in government-issued economic releases “introduces a greater degree of uncertainty, which typically isn’t good,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Weeden Capital Management LLC. “It does create some real risk of misinterpretation” as people compensate with other, sometimes partial, sources of information, like a retail CEO’s comments.

The nuances in signals from consumers were evident in executive comments from Kroger Co., America’s biggest supermarket chain.

“They feel incredibly good about the economy but very nervous about where things are headed,” Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen said Sunday in an onstage interview at the National Retail Federation’s annual trade show in New York.

Credit-card results from companies including Visa and MasterCard would help fill some of the void. The Fed’s Beige Book release on Wednesday may also provide anecdotal details on spending and other parts of the economy. That’s why some investors are taking the data disruptions in stride.

Bloomberg

“In a world of big data, there are so many other ways to get a view of the consumer than the monthly numbers from the Commerce Department,” said David Sowerby, portfolio manager at the investment firm Ancora, which manages $6.9 billion.

E-commerce sales during the holiday season jumped 16.5% from a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics, which measured online transactions from 80 top U.S. retailers.

No instruments

Still, companies depend on broader economic data to make investment decisions, and without it they’re “to a degree, flying without any instruments,” said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz.

The Commerce Department’s monthly data are crucial to get a bigger picture because about 90% of retail sales come from small businesses, he said. Recently, several large publicly traded retailers such as Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. provided discouraging updates.

“It was disappointing news, but I don’t know how pervasive that performance was,” Kleinhenz said.

The trade association itself is somewhat in the dark until the government releases the data. Without official numbers, “we can’t provide our final report this week either” on holiday spending, according to NRF spokeswoman Ana Serafin Smith.

Nearly 1 in 8 Jobs Added in November in Retail, Says Report

Posted on by katiecmorgan

A good chunk of the jobs created in November were in retail — likely to keep up with holiday sales — says the National Retail Federation.

Employment in retail was up by 18,600 jobs in November, seasonally adjusted from October, said the Federation. That means that of 155,000 jobs created in the overall economy last month, nearly one in eight were in retail.

Calling the retail jobs numbers “satisfying,” the federation’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, said in a statement that the boost came during and after the wildfires in California and bad weather in other areas of nation, all of which likely dragged on the sector.

The numbers were a good sign, given the context of the overall economic and national picture, he said.

“In retail, the tight labor market has created sizable challenges in hiring – there are actually more retail jobs available than there are people to fill them. Retailers would hire more workers if they could find them,” said Kleinhenz, in a statement.

Still, compared to last year at the same time, unadjusted retail employment dipped by 16,300 jobs, said the group.

And, the Department of Labor, in its job report, noted that “retail trade employment changed little” in November, noting that most of the jobs created were in health care, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing.

The total employment numbers across all sectors released Friday by the Labor Department were considered a disappointment by many, as projections were for a bigger boost.

The jobless rate for retail was 4.2 percent; the unemployment rate overall remained unchanged at 3.7 percent.

Of the total positions in retail in November, most were at department stores, warehouse clubs and other general merchandise shops, while the rest were at a variety of merchants and in online sales. Many jobs were lost at sporting goods, hobby, electronics and appliances stores, according to the federation.

The group predicts up to $721 billion in retail sales over this holiday season.

Stocks are plummeting, but a U.S. recession doesn’t look imminent

Posted on by katiecmorgan

Consumer sentiment has remained strong all year despite political head winds and market jitters.

Washington Post

By Heather Long
December 4
Alarm bells sounded on Wall Street this week as something happened that hasn’t occurred in a decade: The U.S. yield curve inverted. This is one of the most reliable predictors of a recession, and it spooked investors enough to send the Dow down almost 800 points (along with the realization that President Trump’s trade “deal” with China is flimsy, at best).

But this doesn’t mean a recession is happening tomorrow or even in 2019.

Roughly 70 percent of the U.S. economy is powered by consumer spending. As long as consumers are happy and opening their wallets, the economy will keep growing, and right now, consumers are in very good shape.

Here’s what happened Monday: The yield (amount of interest) on the two- and three-year U.S. Treasury bonds moved above the yield on the five-year Treasury bond. Inversion is when a short-duration bond yield is suddenly worth more than a long one.

“A flattening yield curve traditionally has been seen as a sign that investors expect future growth to weaken,” Vincent Heaney, Jon Gordon and Chris Swann of UBS wrote in a client note. “An inverted yield curve is seen by some as an early warning sign of an impending recession.”

[Trump has won little from China so far. There isn’t an ‘incredible’ deal yet.]

As UBS noted, this is an early warning sign, and it could take years for the recession to materialize. Consider that the three-year bond yield moved above the five-year in August 2005, yet the Great Recession didn’t begin until December 2007.

According to many Wall Street analysts, this week’s inverted yield curve isn’t a reason to panic but is another sign that the U.S. economy is probably peaking. Growth is widely expected to slow somewhat next year and even more so in 2020.

How much and how quickly the economy tapers is going to depend on U.S. consumers.

“This is the most confident American consumers have been in 18 years,” said Lynn Franco, director of the team that produces the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. “Just on holiday gifts, consumers plan to spend around $627 this year versus $560 last year, one of the strongest jumps we’ve seen.”

U.S. household incomes are rising as more people find jobs, and wage growth is at the highest nominal level in nearly a decade. More than 2.7 million more Americans are employed now vs. a year ago, the biggest gain since 2014. In many communities, people see visible signs of the economy’s strength when they view so many “We’re hiring!” signs around town. Franco says good job prospects are a key driver of consumer sentiment.

Consumer sentiment has remained strong all year despite political head winds and market jitters. People appear to be focusing on their own improving financial situations and not the headlines.

“Consumers have been pretty accurate forecasters of a recession,” Franco said. “There is usually a sharp decline in expectations for the future, followed by a decline in how consumers view the present situation.” But she said she’s not seeing that now.

On top of job and wage gains, many Americans have more money in their pockets from tax cuts. The typical middle-class household, earning $49,000 to $86,000 a year, received a $900 tax cut this year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Earlier this year, there were concerns that higher gas prices were eating up a substantial chunk of the tax savings as families had to shell out more money at the pump, but gas prices have fallen sharply in recent weeks and are now at a lower level than they were a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It’s another factor helping consumers feel better off and making them likely to spend more.

“The recent drop in retail gasoline prices is poised to lift disposable income in the coming months,” said Neil Dutta, head of Renaissance Macro Research. “Disposable income is the main driver of consumption.”

[1 million Americans live in RVs. Meet the ‘modern nomads.’]

The brighter mood and fatter pockets of U.S. consumers are helping boost retail sales, according to Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation. He expects retail sales to grow at least 4.5 percent this year, which would be the largest gain since 2014. His figures don’t include spending on gas or restaurants, so they are a good barometer of how much Americans are spending online or in brick-and-mortar stores.

If there’s a head wind for consumers, it’s debt. Household debt — mortgages, student loans, auto loans, home-equity lines of credit and credit cards — has now topped $13.51 trillion, which is above the previous peak from 2008, just before the worst of the financial crisis hit. Student loans often get the most focus since nearly 1 in 5 adults have some sort of student debt. Experts say it’s a clear hindrance, but they are encouraged that credit card and mortgage debt remain in check this cycle.

“People are using credit in a prudent way. They aren’t loading up on their credit cards,” Kleinhenz said. He pointed out that household debt as a percent of household income is low by historical standards.

An early warning sign could be car loans. Auto loans that are 90 days delinquent just hit the highest level since early 2012, according to New York Federal Reserve data. Auto loan delinquencies have steadily risen in the past six years, even as the economy has improved. It is a likely indication that lower-income Americans are still struggling, even though many states and the nation’s two largest employers — Walmart and Amazon.com — have lifted their minimum wages.

But Dutta of Renaissance Macro Research pointed out that disposable income has been rising 3.1 percent in the past five years while consumption has risen 3 percent, meaning a lot of people are living within their means. Dutta said that is a “dramatic departure” from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when consumption outpaced income by a sizable amount.

This week’s inverted yield curve is a reminder that the economic head winds at home and abroad are picking up. But experts say to watch the consumer for the best gauge on the U.S. economy’s health. So far, most signs point to ongoing strength.

US retail stocks on track for biggest sell-off since 2008

Posted on by katiecmorgan

Investors turn negative in spite of bullish Christmas sales forecasts

Shares in US retailers are on course for their biggest quarterly sell-off since the financial crisis, putting the sector at the sharp end of Wall Street’s mounting concerns about the global economy and President Donald Trump’s trade wars. In a sudden reversal of the cautious optimism that had crept in this year over the industry’s ability to cope with the ecommerce revolution, S&P’s index of 95 leading listed retailers has dropped 17 per cent so far this quarter.

The market downturn has gathered pace just as the festive shopping season gets into full swing, in spite of a series of upbeat predictions about Christmas sales. Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, has nudged his forecast for the holiday period higher after commerce department figures on Friday showed core retail sales surged in November by the most in a year. Investors said the sell-off, which puts the sector on track for the steepest quarterly decline since the final three months of 2008, reflected worries about gathering storm clouds for retailers next year. Luxury, middle market and budget retailers have all been hit hard. S&P 500-listed losers include upscale jeweller Tiffany, down 36 per cent for the quarter so far, and mass market chain Target, off 23 per cent. Concerns include retailers being forced to shed stock at hefty discounts, in part because they have accelerated shipments through ports to avoid being subjected to higher tariffs, which the Trump administration has since put on hold. Chad Kessler, global brand president at American Eagle Outfitters, said rivals were still being “pretty promotional” since the Black Friday sales. “It seems like a lot of retailers have kind of maintained their Thanksgiving week promotions through the month so far,” he said. Even companies thought to have successfully weathered the rise of Amazon have been caught up in the rout, including electronics retailer Best Buy, which is down 30 per cent. The sell-off has erased all gains from earlier this year, when investors drove a rally in retail stocks on signs that a strong US economy and tax cuts were helping bricks and mortar companies deal with the online threat. “People went from saying the mall is dead to the mall is back with a vengeance,” said Simeon Siegel, analyst at Instinet. “The reality is that it never died — but it was also never as healthy as people thought.” The US economy remains robust and Mr Kleinhenz now anticipates retail sales for the season to come in at the high end of the National Retail Federation’s previously issued forecast of a year-on-year rise of 4.3-4.8 per cent.

However, Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said: “Investors are concerned more about the longer-term outlook for retail — and the broader structural trends, such as the shift online.” Weak economic data from Europe and Asia — figures on Friday showed retail sales in China grew at the slowest pace in 15 years in November — have meanwhile added to fears about a global downturn. Analysts also pointed to concerns that trade tensions would force US retailers to either risk volumes by raising consumer prices or absorb higher costs themselves, especially if higher tariffs were implemented next year. Executives have sought to reassure investors that they can minimise the impact on profits. Jack Calandra, chief financial officer of men’s clothing company Tailored Brands, said last week it was halving the proportion of products it sourced directly from China from 30 per cent to 15 per cent. Shares in Amazon have dropped 20 per cent for the quarter so far, paring its market capitalisation to $778bn. S&P’s Select Retail Index is equal-weighted, meaning the decline in Amazon’s stock has not had an outsized impact.

Alistair Gray

Financial Times

RETAIL Online Spending Could Top $124B Over The Holidays

Posted on by katiecmorgan
By
Posted on 

Amid a change in shopping habits from brick-and-mortar to eCommerce, online spending is expected to reach $124.1 billion this holiday season — an increase of 14.8 percent. That percentage is expected to be much higher than the 2.7 percent growth forecasted for traditional stores, Reuters reported.

To arrive at the forecast, Adobe Analytics took a look at transactions at 80 of the top 100 retailers in the United States along with visits by consumers to U.S. retail websites. The company also noted that prices for sporting goods could be lower than 13 percent than their 10-month average on Thanksgiving. And it said that, on Black Friday, television prices could be 22 percent lower.

For online sales, the calendar might provide a bit of a boost: due to an extra day in the period spanning from Cyber Monday to Christmas, a $284 million rise in sales could occur.

The news comes as holiday sales for U.S. retailers are expected to increase 4.8 percent this year. The National Retail Federation (NRF) revealed in October that holiday sales growth will be higher than the average increase of 3.9 percent over the past five years. However, sales will grow at a slower pace than the 5.3 percent growth the retail market saw one year ago.

“Last year’s strong results were thanks to growing wages, stronger employment and higher confidence, complemented by anticipation of tax cuts that led consumers to spend more than expected,” NFR Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said, according to Reuters in October. “With this year’s forecast, we continue to see strong momentum from consumers as they do the heavy lifting in supporting our economy.”

He added that several factors played a role in the boost, including more jobs, improved wages, lower inflation and an increase in net worth. According to the NRF, sales for the last two months of the year are expected to hit between $717.45 billion and $720.89 billion, excluding autos, gasoline and dining out. Holiday sales in 2017 were $687.87 billion.

Retail Pundits Reveal Key Spending Themes This Holiday 2018 Shopping Season

Posted on by katiecmorgan
FORBES

(Getty Images)

A lot of people will shop for the holidays! And they’ll buy online! And they will look at their phones a lot, too!

Duh.

It’s that time of year again, folks, when we retail reporter types can sometimes spew breathless pronouncements on the sometimes not-so-revelatory predictions pundits make on the make-or-break holiday selling season, when merchants generate a disproportionate chunk of their annual sales.

Here’s some predictions worth noting. Let the games begin.

Feeling Financially Flush, Consumers Will Spend More Than They Have In Five Years

The National Retail Federation expects holiday retail sales in November and December — excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants — to rise between 4.3% and 4.8% over 2017, for a total of  $720.89 billion. The forecast compares with an average annual increase of 3.9% over the past five years.

“The combination of increased job creation, improved wages, tamed inflation and an increase in [consumers’] net worth all provide the capacity and the confidence to spend,” the NRF’s chief economist Jack Kleinhenz said, in a statement.

Online retail will be the most popular shopping destination, with 60% of consumers planning e-commerce gifting this holiday season, according to a Deloitte survey.

An estimated 57% of holiday dollars will be spent online, eclipsing in-store purchasing, which is forecasted to account for 36% of consumer spending.

More than 70% of shoppers surveyed noted free shipping, while two-thirds cited time savings and home delivery, as the key reasons they’ll buy online this holiday, the survey found.

Of the nearly 50% of consumers who plan to use their smartphones to shop this holiday, 67% plan to use mobile to make a purchase, up from 57% last year.

Mass merchants are the second most popular venue for holiday shoppers (52%, up from 44% in 2017). Traditional department stores and off-price retailers round out the top-four shopping destinations.

Fewer Baubles And Blouses, More Brunches And Broadway Shows

Over the last five years, U.S. consumers have diverted more of their holiday budgets to experiences such as home entertaining and socializing away from home, which now represent 40%, or $611, of  survey respondents’ planned holiday budgets, the Deloitte study found.

While physical gift purchases, from clothes to household appliances, still dominate holiday purchases, they’re down trending. The number of shoppers who plan to buy a product has dropped 11% from 2017, according to Accenture. By contrast, shoppers planning to buy an experience or service-geared gift, from a meal out and a concert ticket to a cleaning service, rose 5%.

Millennials Will Be The Biggest Spenders, Practicing Conscious Consumption

An estimated 49% of younger Millennials plan to spend more this holiday than in 2017, while only 13% of their Baby Boomer counterparts expect to spend more than they did a year.

And Generation Y’s shopping venues will reflect their belief system. For example, 54% of younger Millennials said retailers have a duty to address broader social and political issues, such as diversity, be it gender, ethnic or disability inclusion, and they will reward merchants that do just that: 51% of younger Millennials surveyed are more likely to shop at a retailer that demonstrates awareness of these issues, the Accenture study found. “Our research suggests that younger Millennials are more likely to choose one brand over another if that brand demonstrates inclusion and diversity in terms of its promotions and offers, their in-store experience, their product range, and their environmental awareness,” said Jill Standish, senior managing director and head of Accenture’s retail practice, in a statement.

I’ve been a business journalist specializing in the retail industry for over a decade, covering consumer news, company profiles and industry analysis pieces, as well as the intersection of business news and shopping, fashion and social trends.

I was the retail and con…

Barbara Thau
FORBES
Contributor

Retail

5 Things Retailers Need to Consider Heading Into the 2018 Holiday Shopping Season

Posted on by katiecmorgan
NASDAQ  November 16, 2018, 

Shutterstock photo

For most retailers, the 2018 holiday shopping season will present their biggest opportunity of the year to engage with customers. It will also represent the bulk of their annual sales.

As a result, this time of year is crucial for retailers to achieve success. With that in mind, current conditions make this holiday shopping season look positive for retailers.

1. Consumers Are Upbeat About Spending 

From what we’ve seen, customers are excited about shopping this year.

Brick-and-mortar sales will grow 1.4 percent and online growth is expected to reach 14 percent, according to Forrester Analytics: Online Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, 2018 (U.S.). Various studies also show that the average U.S. consumer will spend more during the upcoming holiday season, jumping from $1,226 per consumer to $1,536.

Deloitte’s annual holiday economic forecast looks great for retailers as well. Consumers seem confident about the economy, their household financial situations, and their spending plans for the upcoming holiday season.

Deloitte’s consumer survey shows online spending continues to grow and is expected to account for 57 percent of all purchases. Also, Deloitte’s research notes that shoppers are enthusiastic about the holiday season and remain price- and value-focused.

Based on the report, retailers are in a good spot to influence where consumers shop this year as many shoppers are entering the season undecided.

2. Thanksgiving is Coming Early

Consumers are doing their holiday shopping earlier based on a study by Bazaarvoice. An early Thanksgiving helps spread the holiday shopping theme to consumers.

Thanksgiving is as early as it can be this year (Nov. 22) which could prove helpful to retailers. Sixty percent of consumers say they begin their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving . This is particularly important this year because there will be 33 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Retailers have that much more time to fully engage consumers this holiday season. Although spending will increase this holiday season, retailers must be conscientious when it comes to identifying their best customers who are most likely to spend the most.

It appears that consumers look forward to spending early for their holiday shopping . This fact, combined with the Thanksgiving retail shopping period that includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday, means brands need to be prepared for this critical holiday shopping period around Thanksgiving.

3. The Strong Economy Will Help Retailers

Consumers are confident about the economy for several reasons. National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay cited some of these factors .

“Thanks to a healthy economy and strong consumer confidence, we believe that this holiday season will continue to reflect the growth we’ve seen over the past year,” Shay noted.

Holiday sales in 2017 totaled $687.87 billion, a 5.3 percent increase over 2016 and the largest increase since the 5.2 percent year-over-year gain seen in 2010 after the end of the Great Recession.

“Last year’s strong results were thanks to growing wages, stronger employment, and higher confidence, complemented by anticipation of tax cuts that led consumers to spend more than expected,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “With this year’s forecast, we continue to see strong momentum from consumers as they do the heavy lifting in supporting our economy. The combination of increased job creation, improved wages, tamed inflation and an increase in net worth all provide the capacity and the confidence to spend.”

All of these strong macroeconomic factors have contributed to one of the best consumer discretionary spending environments in years .

Consumer confidence in the economy is a powerful thing during the holiday season, which places retailers in an ideal situation to enhance engagement and retention levels.

4. Retailers Can Make the Holiday Season a Memorable One

Retailers can take advantage of the favorable economy and positive consumer sentiment through customer insights data during the holiday season.

Preparation for the holiday season is imperative for retailers. One under-the-radar element of holiday preparation for retailers should be website performance.

Whether it is a brick-and-mortar store or an ecommerce site, online presence marks the essence of every business strategy today. Checking website performance, load time, application performance testing, application load test, and much more are quickly becoming inevitable for commercial success.

All these factors play a vital role, especially during the high-pressure holiday season when every small or big portal is trying to grab maximum profits from the market.

During the holiday season retailers need to ensure that store associates are well versed and excited about the loyalty programs they will be promoting.

5. Customer Engagement Shouldn’t End with the 2018 Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday season is a great time to engage and create new customers, but what happens after that? One of the strategies a retailer can use to achieve this goal is a loyalty program.

There are thousands of loyalty programs out there, but consumers are drawn to ones that are simple and offer real value.

A new study shows  that 40 percent of customers who refrain from signing up for loyalty programs do so because the value of being a loyalty member is not worth the time, money, or effort of signing up. And for those who sign up, 76 percent do so to qualify for special promotions.

Retailers should take note of these statistics and evaluate special offers for loyalty members to ensure that their promotions are competitive and offer value.

Effectively leveraging a loyalty program during the holiday season can go a long way toward retaining customers in the long run. That customer engagement during the holiday season should continue in the New Year to bolster your consumer relationships.

Loyalty program signup is important throughout the year, but it takes on added importance and relevance during the holiday season.

Happy Holiday Shopping Season

If brands listen to their customers, identify their pain points, and meet their expectations, they can build solid two-way relationships that extend well beyond the holiday season.

Given the fact that consumers are upbeat about spending in a strong and vibrant economy, retailers can and should take advantage of the early Thanksgiving and make this holiday season a memorable one through increased customer engagement, more promotions around value-driven loyalty programs, and ensuring that store associates are proficient in your key brand messaging.

Creating memorable moments is a huge part of the holiday season.

Focus on your customers and enjoy a Happy Holiday Shopping Season!

11:06:55 AM EDT By 

Kusama “Infinity Mirrors” and FRONT International helped art museum break attendance, membership records

Posted on by katiecmorgan

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Attendance boosted by the popular Yayoi Kusama “Infinity Mirrors” exhibition and the FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art this year helped the Cleveland Museum of Art break a 26-year record for the number of visitors attracted in any single summer.

Between July 1 and September 30, the museum said it attracted 305,692 visitors, the largest summer total in the institution’s 102-year history, and the largest since the same period in 1992, when the exhibition “Egypt’s Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III,” helped the museum pull in 290,000 visitors.

Visitors this summer came from all 50 states and 23 foreign countries, generating $6.9 million in museum revenues, including $2.3 million in new memberships, the museum announced Thursday.

“We were really thrilled to see so many people come from so far away as well as close to home to celebrate the summer with us,” said Elizabeth Bolander, director of audience insights and services at the museum, who described the new information in an interview Wednesday.

The Amenhotep exhibition, organized to celebrate the museum’s 75thanniversary, drew 186,139 visitors, far more than the 120,000 attendees for the Kusama show, which surveyed the artist’s 65-year career.

The museum had to limit the number of attendees for “Infinity Mirrors,” which involved circulating small numbers of viewers in and out of specially constructed mirror rooms in 30-second shifts.

But with FRONT and other exhibitions and a full calendar of events and programs, the museum cruised past its 1992 summer attendance record.

The museum reported that it topped 30,000 memberships this summer for the first time in its history, exceeding the total of 29,491 membership households reached on June 30, 2016, the middle of the museum’s centennial year.

Shows during that period included “Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse,” and “Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt.”

The museum said it created 120 temporary jobs to support the Kusama exhibition, and recruited 100 volunteers.

Data crunched by Cleveland economist Jack Kleinhenz show that the Kusama exhibition contributed $5.5 million in economic impact in Cuyahoga County.

The figure includes $3.2 million in direct spending by visitors from outside Cuyahoga County, plus additional sums calculated for the ripple of indirect and induced spending triggered by the new dollars flowing into the local economy. The increased spending created 58 new jobs in the county, according to the analysis.

Kleinhenz said the data were calculated from 732 visitor surveys, which represented a 33 percent response rate among those polled by the institution.

Figures extrapolated from the survey indicate that 44,522 visitors came to see the Kusama show from outside Cuyahoga County.

“It goes beyond pure economics,” Kleinhenz said of the museum’s impact on Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. “It’s such a unique brand, like the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Clinic.”

Bolander said the summer of 2018 helped the museum understand how its recently expanded and renovated complex could accommodate a million visitors a year – a major goal of a new strategic plan unveiled in 2017.

Attendance has averaged 630,000 in recent years. Attendance this summer – if annualized – would nearly double that number.

“It was actually very exciting this summer,” Bolander said. “We were able to test if, you will, what it meant to be at that level of attendance for a sustained period.”

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Retailers Should Have a Happy Holiday Season

Posted on by katiecmorgan

Barrons Vito J. Racanelli

The Amazon threat still hangs over many bricks-and-mortar retailers, but the coming holiday season should be a happy one for most, according to projections from the National Retail Federation.

The NRF said Wednesday it expects retail sales in November and December—excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants—to increase between 4.3% and 4.8% over the year-ago period, or to about $717.5 billion to $721 billion, says NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. The sales rise projected compares with an average annual holiday season gain of 3.9% over the past five years.

Could the tariffs ruin the holidays for shoppers?

Posted on by katiecmorgan
Washington Post
By Rachel Siegel

October 3

“Get out the Ouija board.”

That’s how one retail analyst summed up the tricky task of predicting what lies ahead for retailers and shoppers this holiday season. Analysts say there’s ample reason to expect record-breaking sales on the back of a strong economy, a historically low unemployment rate and upward-ticking wages.

But that’s all hedged by a hefty unknown: the threat of ongoing tariffs and an escalating trade war. President Trump’s latest round of tariffs have kicked in at 10 percent and are set to rise to 25 percent at the start of 2019. Nearly 6,000 products — including electronics and other go-to gifts — will see price increases that, in time, are expected to pass from retailers to consumers.

And while it’s unlikely that the brunt of those price hikes will take a toll over the next few months, experts agree that the sheer concern over how long the tariffs will last, and to what degree, could act as a Grinch to holiday shoppers.

“Business doesn’t manage uncertainty well, nor does the consumer, and there is no way prices don’t get passed through the consumer,” said Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School. “The problem I have is, who knows on a day-to-day basis where this is headed?”

The retail industry is still optimistic. On Wednesday, the National Retail Federation announced it is expecting retail sales in November and December to increase between 4.3 and 4.8 percent over 2017 results, to as much as $720.89 billion. That forecast compares with an average annual increase of 3.9 percent over the past five years. (If Labor Day is any indicator, Americans spent a record $2 billion online then alone.)

But for comparison, holiday sales in 2017 rose 5.3 percent over the year before, totaling $687.87 billion, according to the NRF.

In mid-September, Deloitte anticipated retail holiday sales to increase 5 to 5.6 percent over last year’s shopping season — totaling at least $1.1 trillion between November and January. Rod Sides, leader of Deloitte’s U.S. retail and distribution practice, said shoppers are unlikely to make their shopping decisions based on geopolitical issues, such as global trade.

“A lot of it comes down to when they look in their checkbook or their pocket,” Sides said. “If they have a few extra dollars, whether it be the stock markets to the election to tariffs, it typically doesn’t trickle down.”

[‘This could be catastrophic’: Small businesses say new tariffs will make it even harder to compete]

At the same time, retailers and industry groups have made their opposition to the tariffs clear. Last month, Walmart sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer cautioning that additional tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would strike a blow. Walmart — the largest retailer in the country — wrote that the “immediate impact will be to raise prices on consumers and tax American businesses and manufacturers.” Target chief executive Brian Cornell said the company was “concerned about anything that would cause higher prices on everyday products for American families.”

That’s in concert with arguments from industry groups that say the tariffs will trigger price increases, even if not by this Thanksgiving or Christmas. The Retail Industry Leaders Association, an industry lobbying group, wrote to Lighthizer in September requesting the removal of more than 650 tariff lines from the proposed list of products subject to the latest wave of tariffs. Any tariffs on consumer goods proposed by Trump’s administration, the group wrote, are “nothing more than a hidden tax.”

Larger retailers have long since secured low-priced inventory to get them through the holidays and into the new year. But Hun Quach, vice president for international trade at RILA, noted that as the Chinese tariffs drag on, businesses large and small will be forced to restructure their supply chains. Changing the source on products as simple as plastic stickers can take as long as a year, she said.

“The pricing impact won’t hit immediately,” she said. “I think a lot of this uncertainty is about how long these tariffs are going to be in place.”

There’s also the question of whether retailers, embracing a strong economy and shoppers with money to spend, could increase prices anyway. But Cohen said that, even with signs pointing toward a strong holiday season, “the prospect of raising prices across the board is extremely problematic. There’s no getting away with that.”

Still, retailers will have to grapple with questions of when to time price increases on goods that will feel the full brunt of the tariffs at the start of 2019.

“Do you start to adjust prices now or do you wait until January?” Cohen said. “That’s a difficult decision.”

Mark Rosenbaum, department chair and professor of retailing at the University of South Carolina, said that many retailers placed their holiday-season orders over the summer, and that it would be unusual for them to alter the prices now because of the tariffs.

Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, noted that many of the tariffs apply to goods that have “already been ordered, and have been shipped and are on their way.” The “precise effects of the tariffs are not yet completely clear,” but any impacts are likely to hit closer to the start of 2019. The tariffs may hit prices for jewelry by Valentine’s Day, for example, but that may be the earliest shoppers will feel a difference.

In the meantime, retailers and shoppers will have reason to stay merry.

“Thinking about the ability to spend — the data shows that we are in a good place,” Kleinhenz said. “The picture looks very good.”