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| Economy |
| Costco CEO Warns 'A Lot Of Consumers Are In Recession Right Now' |
| 2022-07-12 |
| [ZERO] One question macro-watchers have on their minds is the state of the US consumer amid increasing threats of recession. The White House and Federal Reserve offer their perspective of a healthy consumer, but that's in total aggregate. It fails to show the entire story of working-poor Americans suffering amid the worst inflation storm in forty years. What better way to get a fresh glimpse of consumer health is via CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" interview with Craig Jelinek, CEO of Costco Wholesale Corporation, on Monday, who said overall "the consumer isn't doing bad," but also mentioned, "a lot of people, right now, they're in a recession because they're just trying to survive by just buying gas and making house and rent payments." Sounds confusing, right? But it's not. With some clarification, Jelinek said wealthier households still have "discretionary income to buy goods," which means the lower tier of consumers is perhaps tapped out. What's important is the CEO of the second-largest retailer in the world said, "consumers are getting more cautious." It's not necessarily a sign that all consumption is about to roll over, but cracks appear in lower-tier spenders. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #6 Which works out to every month or two... |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2022-07-12 16:29 |
| #5 Sam’s is a 2 hour drive each way - only go when in the town for doctors visits. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2022-07-12 16:28 |
| #4 A CEO who gets it and knows the messaging coming from the WH about the "best economy ever" is just gaslighting marlarky--They piss down our legs and tell us it's raining. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2022-07-12 11:10 |
| #3 I used to go to Sam's Club about 1.5 times a month. Now it's a bit less than once a month. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-07-12 10:01 |
| #2 As he points out, the Costco customer is in a higher income bracket, and thus in far less distress. But the sudden, new daily ads campaign suggests that those customers, too, are being considerably more careful what they spend on and how much, and must be actively seduced into considering spending beyond essentials. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-07-12 09:55 |
| #1 Considering their flood of daily email 'bargain' listings is composed of a lot of non-essential higher end appliances, electronics, furniture and assorted materials, his company doesn't seem as focused on what he's talking about other than the usual bulk food, healthcare items, and common consumables. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-07-12 07:34 |