Quote:Trying to survive current price increases in housing costs, energy costs, electricity costs, food and fuel costs has forced consumers to reevaluate purchasing decisions. As consumer demand for non-essential items has collapsed, and as Americans dig deeper into their savings just to sustain current unavoidable expenses, major retailers are now cancelling Christmas inventory orders.

On one hand the leaders of large multinationals must pretend everything is splendid; after all, the only acceptable position they can articulate is to support interest rates being raised because demand is just too darned high. lololol… pretending. But on the other hand – those same retailers are furiously trying to calculate how to avoid being stuck with billions worth of unsold inventory.

RetailWire – Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s are among retailers that have recently said they are canceling some orders to better balance inventory levels, a replay of a strategy used at the start of the pandemic.

Other steps retailers are using to clear inventories as spending has slowed on some non-discretionary categories are employing markdowns and packing away products for the following year. The elevated inventory levels also reflect intentional over-buying to mitigate shortages and the easing of supply chain constraints.


[…] Christina Hennington, Target’s EVP and chief growth officer, said steps being taken by the discounter’s buying team include “rigorously reforecasting expectations for the balance of the year and beyond and determining where to reduce future receipts and orders. In some cases, it meant working with vendor partners to reduce our fall receipts in light of our updated expectations. It also meant quickly building compelling promotional plans to drive unit velocity for product we already owned, all with a focus on providing great value and generating excitement for our guests.”

John David Rainey, Walmart’s EVP and CFO, said it had cleared most summer inventory, was reducing exposure in electronics, home and sporting goods, and canceled “billions of dollars in orders” to realign inventories. He said, “Our actions in Q3 will allow us to make significant progress toward rationalizing absolute levels and mix, which will enable our stores to be well positioned ahead of the holiday season.” (read more)

Well positioned Mr Beale. You must say we are “well positioned.”

Where “well positioned” means put loaves of bread and sausages where the flat screen televisions used to be located.