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  • Quiksilver brings surf sexy to corn country

    Posted Mar 12 2008, 10:16 AM by Anthony Mirhaydari Rating:

    Surfwear retailer Quiksilver had a big-time wipeout over the last three years after diluting its strong association with beach culture through a series of acquisitions in golf and skiing. Now that shareholders are in a bloodlust after seeing shares cut in half, the company is taking a chance on amber waves of grain.

    News reports this week suggest Quiksilver, inventor of the boardshort, is planning an invasion of the American heartland. It’s looking to open a number of its beach house inspired retail outlets across the Midwest. This is totally new territory for the company, as current retail efforts are focused elsewhere. Crazy as this might seem, given that Des Moines, Iowa is about as far from the shores of Orange County as you can get, the idea could actually work.  

    Given the insane rise in food prices recently, the Midwest is easily outperforming the rest of the country. Farmland values increased 16% last year, while real estate plummets in traditional surf territory like California and Florida. Incomes are way up too, with the average farm household now bringing in nearly $90,000, up 6.3% from last year.   Read More...

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  • Death of consumer greatly exaggerated

    Posted Feb 13 2008, 02:17 PM by Robert Walberg Rating:

    To paraphrase Mark Twain, the report of the American consumers' death has been greatly exaggerated.

    As evidenced by Wednesday's retail sales report for the month of January, which showed a gain of 0.3%, we're all out there spending like usual despite the high price of gasoline, the credit crunch and the fear of recession. Given that consumer spending accounts for more than 70% of GDP growth, the data were a strong sign that maybe, just maybe, all this recession talk is much ado about nothing.

    Now I don't want to put too much stock into one piece of data, especially given that the month of January now benefits from all the gift cards given at the holidays. Spending that used to be recorded in December now gets registered in January (or later when the cards are used).  Nevertheless, the data seem to suggest that even under the stress of current economic conditions, consumers will fork over their money for a new shirt, a pair of pants or yet another product from Apple.   Read More...

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