The Wall Street Transcript Announces Investment Opinion on the Specialty Retail Industry
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--Leading analysts examine the Specialty Retail Industry in the just-published edition of The Wall Street Transcript, a vital review for investors and companies.
1) An in-depth roundtable forum featuring three prominent analysts: John Glass of BT Alex. Brown, Mark Mandel of ABN AMRO, and Amy Ryan of Prudential Securities. The panel discusses consumer spending trends, growth factors, comp store sales, overseas expansion, pricing, and Internet retailing. While consumers won't accept price increases, leading retailers in specific sectors have become dominant, and are wielding pricing pressure, and demands for inventory increases, logistical supports, and new products upon vendors. Mandel states, "Sector leading companies like Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) are gaining increasing leverage over their vendors/suppliers as they become larger and larger."
Because many segments are already duopolies, retailers are using acquisitions to address issues other than expansion or consolidation. Glass asserts, "As retailers are moving into non-retail segments, such as Staples into the office products group and perhaps Home Depot into the catalog business, for example, acquisitions are the way to go, and that's because these retailers lack experience in these areas. Plus, there's real brand value in the acquired names."
Other topics addressed by this distinguished panel: marketing programs, inventory mix, non-retail segments, store saturation, cost control measures, and the future outlook for the sector.
The panel offers several investment recommendations, including: Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), Borders (NYSE: BGP), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF), about which Glass declares, "They have an excellent brand franchise and they're continuing to market to improve that franchise with some of the customers that do not think that they can afford Tiffany. In addition, there are four new jewelry collection launches that should come out over the next 24 months. Although I don't know what these are yet, Tiffany is indicating they have solid potential and could be as hot as Atlas."
2) An "Off-the-Record" survey of analysts and industry experts, who praise and/or criticize 24 Specialty Retail companies and managements, includes several recommendations and a few admonishments. Hats off to Thomas Stemberg of Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) as a money manager states, "He's put in place a high quality management team and has been a visionary within the office products industry." A colleague concurs, asserting, "He will probably go down as one of the best retailers in this century, which is a pretty strong statement."
Applause for Co-CEOs Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein of Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) as "Two of the best merchants in the business" who "have great ideas and just execute a plan well."
But, another Specialty Retail CEO disappoints because he "prevents some of the talented people that he hires from really doing the very best that they can on a more autonomous basis" and he "continues to over-promise and under-deliver to Wall Street."
3) CEO Interviews, including the CEO from DAMARK International (Nasdaq: DMRK). These are in-depth discussions (average 3,000 words) with the people leading these firms, talking about their companies; key trends in their markets, opportunities they face and key concerns, specific goals they set for their organization, and the outlook for investors.
4) Analyst Interviews on Specialty Retail - Softlines. Eliot Laurence of J.C. Bradford & Co., Todd Slater of Lazard Freres, and Mark Friedman of Merrill Lynch. These prominent analysts offer insight into the sector and their specific stock recommendations.
5) Analyst Interview on Direct Marketing with Kevin Silverman of ABN AMRO in which he predicts huge growth opportunities for direct marketers with the expansion of e-commerce.
Other companies mentioned in this special 48-page Specialty Retail Industry section include:
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), American Eagle Outfitters (Nasdaq: AEOS), Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN), AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), B.J.'s Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Boise Cascade Office (NYSE: BOP), Book-A-Million (Nasdaq: BAMM), Braun's Fashion (Nasdaq: BFCI), Buckle (NYSE: BKE), Catherines Stores (Nasdaq: CATH), Central Garden & Pet (Nasdaq: CENT), Circuit City (NYSE: CC), Circuit City CarMax (NYSE: KMX), Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR), CompUSA (NYSE: CPU), Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Federated Department Stores (NYSE: FD), Fingerhut (NYSE: FHT), Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL), Gadzooks (Nasdaq: GADZ), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Gateway (NYSE: GTW), Good Guys (Nasdaq: GGUY), Goody's Family Clothing (Nasdaq: GDYS), Gymboree (Nasdaq: GYMB), Hines Horticulture (Nasdaq: HORT), Hot Topics (Nasdaq: HOTT), Intimate Brands (NYSE: IBI), Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY), Just for Feet (Nasdaq: FEET), K&G Men's Center (Nasdaq: MENS), Limited (NYSE: LTD), Linens n' Things (NYSE: LIN), Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD), Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), May Department Stores (NYSE: MAY), Michaels (Nasdaq: MIKE), MSC Industrial (NYSE: MSM), Office Max (NYSE: OMX), Petco (Nasdaq: PETC), PETsMART (Nasdaq: PETM), Pier 1 (NYSE: PIR), Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), Republic Industries (NYSE: RII), REX Stores (NYSE: RSC), Ross (Nasdaq: ROST), Scotts (NYSE: SMG), Sears (NYSE: S), Signet (Nasdaq: SIGYY), Sports Authority (NYSE: TSA), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), Tandy (NYSE: TAN), TJX (NYSE: TJX), Tommy Hilfiger (NYSE: TOM), Toys R Us (NYSE: TOY), United Auto Group (NYSE: UAG), United Stationers (Nasdaq: USTR), Urban Outfitters (Nasdaq: URBN), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Warnaco (NYSE: WAC), Whitehall Jewelers (Nasdaq: WHJI), Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), and Zale (NYSE: ZLC).
For information on how to obtain a copy of this issue, see twst.com or call 212/952-7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewee nor does it make stock recommendations.
The Wall Street Transcript is a premier weekly investment publication serving serious long-term investors for over 35 years. The Transcript publishes industry roundtables and interviews with Wall Street analysts, money managers, and company CEOs, and is read by top money managers, brokers, and individual investors.
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