The Container Store CEO Gives A Shocking Warning About The State Of The Consumer
Courtesy of SAM RO of Business Insider
Following a chilly winter that froze economic growth, economists have been forecasting a sharp snapback in activity for Q2 and the second half of the year.
Recent reports on jobs and auto sales confirm as much. Add the fact that the stock market is near an all-time high, and you would assume the consumer would be feeling pretty confident.
But new comments from a major U.S. retailer contradict all of the optimism out ther.
On Tuesday afternoon, The Container Store Group announced that its comparable store sales fell 0.8%, which led to a wider than expected net loss of $0.07 per share.
CEO Kip Tindell warned that weakness at his stores wasn't a company-specific problem.
"Consistent with so many of our fellow retailers, we are experiencing a retail 'funk,'" Tindell said in the company's earnings announcement.
"We are confident that customer enthusiasm for our brand, and employee morale are at all-time highs, yet we continue to experience slight traffic declines in this surprisingly tepid retail environment. While consumers are buying homes and automobiles and even high ticket furniture, most segments of retail are, like us, seeing more challenging sales than we had hoped early in 2014 – so we’re not alone in this."
"Are there any potential alternative explanations for a 'surprisingly tepid retail environment?'" asked Marc Andreessen.
If Tindell is right, then it may be prudent to be a bit more cautious as we wait for the final economic data to come out.
Picture source: Container Store
