There have been many conflicting reports about the state of U.S. retailing. Some experts are rather pessimistic, while others are more optimistic.
Count Mr. Steven Keith Platt, Director and Research Fellow at the Platt Retail Institute, among the latter:
“The U.S. consumer is alive and well. They are responding to pent up demand for new cars and fixing up their homes, as well as continuing to improve their balance sheets. These expenditures are taking precedence over purchases at general merchandise stores. This is a short-term trend that will soon reverse itself as consumers revert to spending on other discretionary items.”
Click the image to read read Platt’s thoughtful, data-packed article on “What Store Traffic Is Not Telling You About the Health of the U.S. Consumer.”
Retailing: From A to Z 
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This post is interesting and deserves a well-researched response. Given that stores from Coach to Wal-Mart are struggling, one should view Platt’s comments with some skepticism. What politicians don’t want to discuss is that the top 1% are doing well now, while the bottom 80% are not. We are still replacing higher paying jobs with lower paying ones, and inflation-adjusted median income is declining. Fundamentally, if people have less money to spend, they will spend less. Victor CrainPartnerCrain Associates Research LLC9 Morton CourtLawrenceville, NJ 08648victor@crainassociatesresearchllc.com+ 609 510-3712 http://www.crainassociatesresearchllc.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/vic-crain/0/625/b5b/