Santa Clara University: Professors Available to Discuss Retail and Consumer Trends amid the U.S. Recession and the Upcoming Holiday Season

2008-11-20 22:39:04 -

www.scu.edu - Two professors from Santa Clara University"s Retail Management Institute are available to comment on retail store closings and bankruptcies; consumer behavior in a recession, and likely retailing winners and losers this holiday season and beyond.
Dr. Dale Achabal, L.J. Skaggs Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of Santa Clara University"s Retail Management Institute, can discuss the unprecedented business challenges facing retailers this holiday season and beyond, and some likely consumer trends.
Dr. Kirthi Kalyanam, J.C. Penney Research Professor and Director of the Retail Management Institute, has done extensive research on consumer shopping behaviors and responses to retailer strategies, and how consumers" spending habits change when their income drops.
Reporters interested in interviewing Dr. Achabal or Dr. Kalyanam may contact Deborah Lohse of SCU"s Media Relations Office at (408) 554-5121.
Among the professors" projections:
For consumers:
*Consumers will consolidate their shopping " both to save gas and to minimize the shopping experience, which will become more of a necessity than an excursion for pleasure. "Being in a mall will just remind people of what they cannot buy," asserts Dr. Kalyanam.
*Consumers will postpone spending on discretionary items and big-ticket items.
*Consumers will purchase more value-based "private label" products rather than national brands. Think Trader Joe"s not Whole Foods, says Dr. Kalyanam.
*Consumers will still buy brand-name Christmas gifts like perfume " but in smaller packages than previously. "If manufacturers have not adjusted to smaller package sizes, then they will lose," says Dr. Kalyanam.
For retailers:
*Discount outlet malls in far-flung locales may suffer, as consumers look to save gas money and local stores aggressively price holiday merchandise, undercutting the advantage of discount outlet malls.
he next 30 days will be extremely difficult for retailers, who are going into their all-important holiday season with lenders limiting their ability to borrow to buy their holiday inventory. Dr. Achabal says lenders are shrinking lines of credit to retailers, and vendors are limiting them to 30- to 60-day terms rather than the normal 90-plus days, or often requiring letters of credit.
*Additional bankruptcies are almost certain, especially for retailers with a lot of debt.
*Store closings will continue, as retailers try to cut expenses on underperforming locations, says Dr. Achabal.
*Retailers selling primarily discretionary, high-end, or big-ticket merchandise (including car dealerships) will continue to suffer.
*Retailers, like many businesses, will postpone major capital expenditures, hurting related industries including technology, telecom, and software companies, as well as local and state sales tax revenues.
About the Retail Management Institute
The Retail Management Institute is an interdisciplinary center in the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. The Institute, formed in 1980 by Santa Clara marketing faculty and leading retail executives, offers a retail studies minor for undergraduates, and is home to the Retail Workbench Research and Education Center, which aims to solve crucial problems using advanced information technologies. The Institute also offers management development programs for retail senior managers. The RMI advisory board includes executives and leaders in the global retail industry.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California's Silicon Valley, offers its 8,685 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master's and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master's universities, California's oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice.


Santa Clara University

Deborah Lohse, Media Relations, 408-554-5121