Basically, if you promoted heavily during the Thanksgiving weekend, you did well. If you’re willing to be aggressive on price and promotion, you can attract traffic into the stores.

This initial earnings guidance for 2006 reflects the fact that the integration of May is going to be a more challenging and longer-term task than some investors had expected.

I think you have a satiated consumer.

I think you have a satiated consumer, you’ve got a consumer that’s facing an increasing debt load and I think there wasn’t a lot interesting short of the scooters this Christmas season.

I think you can look at it as a preview of coming attractions. (CEO) Alan Lacy has made no secret of the fact that, with the exception of the appliance business, he does not consider...

You’ve had a series of announcements over the last several weeks indicating a softness in retail. You’ve had other indicators, which I think really tells you you’re up against really difficult comparisons [with year-ago figures]....

I think that everything is going to be a nail-biter. We could see a pretty big frenzy Friday and Saturday, then a two-to-three-week period, which will be a terrible lull because the calendar doesn’t line...

Costco is a terrific company. Target, which is part of Dayton Hudson, is a very tough competitor to Wal-Mart. I don’t think this is a Wal-Mart phenomenon.

I think everybody is having had a difficult time. I think in general it’s been a very tough apparel cycle, and I think particularly if you’re depending on (designers) Tommy (Hilfiger) and Ralph (Lauren) and...

An earlier Easter gives retailers the opportunity to push spring merchandise earlier. Retailers will have to wait more patiently this year until mid-April for its coveted Easter sales.

The good news is in all honesty, everybody has brought down their expectations for the season.

They’re firing on almost all cylinders at this stage of the game.

I think that retailers have always been somewhat responsible for what they sell. Many of them have spent a lot of time and effort on quality control. I think litigation is a fact of life...

You’re going to see Wal-Mart completely change its Internet operation and its perspective on it as the fall unfolds. You’re going to see a much more aggressive Wal-Mart stand on the Internet.