Retail’s annual event, Black Friday, got off to a bang, and may indicate consumer confidence could drive up sales to the end of 2014, according to CNBC. Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren sounded hopeful but cautious, and thinks the sluggishness in the retail sector for the first nine months of the year may have led up to pent up demand that may be unleashed.
“The first nine months of the year, “Lundgren told CNBC, “you didn’t see it in discretionary items.” He said numbers up until now have been “Okay, but not great.”
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“We expected the consumer to be behaving slightly different by now. I’m optimistic about what could happen and what should happen.”
The National Retail Federation reported that 19.2% of annual retails sales will be made between November and December. Macy’s generated $27 billion from 800 stores, and has seen $4.4 billion growth in the last four years. Macy’s has been outperforming Sears and J.C. Penney, which have had to shutter stores. Lundgren thinks the company’s multi-channel strategy and tech savvy have made it competitive.
“We’re now the 8th largest internet company in America. That puts us in a unique position versus many of our competitors.”
