The outlook for 2012 in better specialty stores

Question: I read that you expect strong growth for spring, but what about when we make our way into fall? How does the rest of the year look?

Answer: We’ve had three years of retail growth coming out of the recession and we know this cycle is getting long in the tooth. At the same time, we recognize that businesses still aren’t anywhere near the levels they were before the recession, so there is some more room for growth.

Whether we will see significant growth depends on whether consumers feel confident enough to continue to shop. If the economy continues to improve, and we see no major external shocks from Europe and other financial markets, we could see steady growth, but at this point it is hard to tell.

Whatever the case, just make sure that you are tracking the trends within your own business and taking advantage of any opportunity that arises, whether this means moving into new categories, or landing new, exciting product.