Step One: Admit We Have Fallen Down a Rabbithole.

The Wall Street  Journal reported today that Easter boosted April retail sales and allowed retailers to experience continued momentum, “posting strong sales.”

Well that’s good news.  Now everyone can go back to work, companies can start spending again and all will be right in the world.

The End.  But wait… according to this WSJ article, the only stores that actually showed signs of life were Costco and teen retailers.

Target posted a 13% gain, but it was below what analysts expected. J.C. Penney’s same-store sales were significantly below what was expected. Kohl’s posted a 10% gain, but were projected by analysts to hit 15%. On the luxury side, Saks and Nordstrom also failed to meet expectations. Gap is scrambling, Sears is running scared and Big Lots is in decline.

So what is really going on in this fantasy world? According to the same article, nearly half (43%) of Americans say gas prices are having a significant impact on their spending and budgeting decisions.

But, of course, gas is not our only problem. There’s the massive debt and the lack of jobs and the high cost of war and the lack of healthcare insurance and skyrocketing city, state and federal taxes, and on and on.

And worst of all?  The left and the right simply continue to bicker and argue and disagree and point fingers and call names… as if they don’t realize or don’t care that we are down the rabbithole. But we are.  And it is time to admit it so we can set about getting out.

Jim Sweeney

CEO & COO

Jim is a veteran of the agency industry and the founder of Sweeney. He is uncommonly passionate about the idea of creating and implementing insanely great marketing campaigns that achieve insanely great results. He pioneered the full-service, full-circle agency model and continues to forge new ideas in an ever-changing industry. And he is accessible to everyone about anything, seemingly all the time, serving as a mentor to all agency personnel and clients.