Howard Davidowitz

We had moderate growth in income but we're borrowing our brains out. The most concerning thing is that the level of savings is at less than one percent of personal income,

I've heard that the Chris Madden line's pulling powerful comparable sales growth for the past six to seven months. This is a category that exploding for Penney and it's also helping boost their monthly sales higher,

The guy that drops by the wayside becomes history, and theoretically he'll be replaced by new concepts in urban clothing and shoes. New concepts are popping up and they are popping up like mad -- as fast as they have ever come if not faster, and they'll want to grow rapidly.

It's an open question whether or not White House can maintain the momentum it's had.

Investors beware, this could be a shot in the dark for White House,

For me, the big question is what is Wal-Mart going to do to improve sales,

Wal-Mart is effectively redefining its future, and not before time.

You can see clearly how the terror attacks have affected the American psyche. People are staying more at home, spending more time with the family and eating out at restaurants. At the same time, anecdotal evidence shows that sales of products such as flashlights, candles, first-aid kits has boomed.

So there's no sense on Federated spending time turning things around at Lord Taylor when the main event for Federated is the integration of May stores.

What did Wall Street see today

Of course retailers don't want rain today. It just sours the mood of shoppers. But if there's stuff that people really want to buy today, they'll still go out and get it.

I think the advertisers are going to go away. She's tarnished. And in looking to the future will she plead guilty If you're an advertiser, you're facing a woman who may go on trial.

There's a tremendous profit margin on the tchotchkes they're selling and I understand the appeal of that. But the most valuable thing that Tiffany has is their brand name. You can't be everything to everybody.

Circuit City just hasn't been able to compete on price or variety,

I think she's dead in the water. Prior to the case, she could have gotten anybody, Target, J.C. Penney's, Kohl's, ... I think any one of them would have wanted her (if) she replaces Kmart. But where are you going to put the product

The bigger issue for the entire retail space is that we have a weak economy, unemployment is rampant, corporate spending is down and corporate earnings are not improving.

The transit strike is devastating for retail. It couldn't have come at a worse time, and we don't know how long it's going to go on.

There is a high likelihood of lower prices, ... The department store segment is a supplier's worst nightmare. Department stores demand more allowances from vendors, they want to be able to return inventory if it doesn't sell well. A Federated-May merger could be an even worse scenario for the suppliers.

He's done an incredible job of buying 100 worth of real estate for a dollar.

Wal-Mart over the last five years has been able to grow its same-store sales at 6 to 7 percent. Now that growth has dwindled to 2 or 3 percent. I call this a gigantic change.

Wal-Mart sees banking as an opportunity to give the customer a better deal. That's what Wal-Mart's about. That's why they have demolished the food and toy industries. If it's better for the customers, then that's the way it ought to be.

In next couple of years, the deal puts PG at a disadvantage. They'll be inwardly focused. The integration challenge here is massive. That's an opportunity for competitors.

We've had an astronomical number of store closings.

They are a small brand. They are not a monster brand. The name of the game for them is to build brand awareness and market share.

Wal-Mart has been losing same-store sales momentum due to store cannibalization and it's stock has been dead money for over five years compared to Target,