«They are more popular than they once were. They are gaining market share. I think consumers have gotten it ? they recognize value. If they've got a hook to get someone in there, they've got a very good chance of making that person a member for life.»

«I'm a convert, and I wasn't necessarily an easy one. What I've found is that it not only saves me money, it saves me a lot of time. It's a very easy shopping trip. I'm convinced it saves me trips to the supermarket.»

«It seems Rite Aid made an announcement and people started speculating.»

«The number of weddings has been fairly stable over time, but the story with David's is they have a better mousetrap in my opinion. ...It makes the shopping experience much easier. So what they've done is they have created a format that is very consumer friendly and solves a lot of problems for the bride-to-be, and they've been able to roll this out. And as a result, they've been gaining market share.»

«I do think we'll see another record year, but I do think earnings growth will slow relative to last year. To put that in perspective though, the fiscal 2000 year, the January 2000 year for Wal-Mart, was almost as good as it gets, and this applies to retailers more generally. The economy was great; the consumer felt terrific. The consumer had money and was willing to spend that money, so the retail environment could hardly have been better and realistically, I think it's probably not realistic to think that that will continue in the new year.»

«I think they can keep it going because they offer the consumer exceptional values. And in an economy where the consumer may be a bit more cautious and therefore a bit more price sensitive, I think those values become even more important. So, yes, I'm optimistic about the sector.»

«It's very easy to be a little bit off the mark. And going into new categories, you multiply that risk a little bit.»