NOVEMBER 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 19
PRESS BUSINESS
A cloud of economic uncertainty hangs over the retail sector ahead of Black Friday’s start of the holiday shopping season. (Getty Images)
SHOPPING SEASON OUTLOOK
CLOUDY FORECAST FOR RETAIL MARKET AHEAD OF BLACK FRIDAY
BY JAMES BERNSTEIN
By most reasonable measures, this should be a healthy shopping season for retailers.
Unemployment remains low. The stock market, despite its occasional jitters, is still
high. Wages have increased, and consumer confidence is strong. But consumers,
stock markets, and the overall economy are not always reasonable.
While all the key indicators may be in a go mode, there are sufficient signs of warning
that keep retailers, economists, and many consumers on alert. Burt Flickinger III,
managing director of Strategic Resource Group, marketing consultants in New York, is
predicting a 3.4 percent gain in retail spending for this upcoming holiday season, only
fractionally higher than last year’s outlay by shoppers.
“We have a mixed picture,” Flickinger says.
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