Retail C.E.O.s Talk Business

Margaret Brennan, a CNBC retail reporter went to a dinner hosted by Financo, the investment bank that specializes in retail deals. This week she recapped it on her blog. "The bottom line is that while slow growth is a sign that consumers are still spending (moderately), when that growth is made by competitive pricing, it can kill margins and hit earnings. Welcome to the have-and-have-not story of retail in 2008." Saks CEO Steve Sadove told her that although we are in a recessionary environment, the high-end consumer is only emotionally feeling a strain on spending and not actually in the dire straits that many gloomy forecasters say. On the other hand, "Business is VERY tough right now for Richard Crystal CEO of New York & Co.," and he blamed the Federated-May merger for taking at least $8 billion in business away from the malls. Lord and Taylor's CEO also jokingly asked fellow diners to please call him with advice, as he's never been through a recession before. The C.E.O. of Perry Ellis said that women weren't buying clothes, but men still were. And then there was the advice of Carl Icahn, who was advising the retailers to buy back their stock at their current depressed levels. Sounds like a fun night.