This Week in Retail: Falling into the February Funk
Super Bowl spending was exceptional this past weekend—and now grocers return to another period of lackluster retail action following the conclusion of the second biggest food holiday of the year (Thanksgiving is number one).
February is quite the doldrums at retail, lacking any real buying occasions. Valentine’s Day is traditionally a foodservice holiday, benefitting fine dining establishments—and the steak and lobster markets, of course. However, the outlook for V-day in 2019 has been questioned by some, given that the date falls on a weekday. This could delay romantic dinner dates until the weekend, which may boost retail spending for a quiet dinner at home for those struck with Cupid’s arrow next Thursday.
Additionally, the Christian Lenten season began on February 14 in 2018, but with a late Easter in store for 2019, Lent is not set to begin until March 6th this year. That’s a three-week difference for the start of a period of time that has a lot of impact in the food industry...
To Read Full Story Login Below.
Submit comment or question
Note: All comments are displayed with user's screen name. If screen name is not present, user's full name will be used. Please go to My Account to update your screen name.
Comment Policy: Urner Barry has made the comment feature available to encourage further discussion of our news stories. Defamatory or offensive comments, or comments deemed not relevant to the story will be removed, and if necessary, Urner Barry may restrict the right of individual subscribers to offer comments. In all cases, comments represent opinions of the poster only, and do not represent fact, news, opinions or estimates put forward by Urner Barry.
Email Address is required. Password is required.