Retailers playing biz journalists as fools

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs wants to know why business reporters, particularly those that cover retailing, such as those at the New York Post allow companies such as Sears to blame bad results on the economy when other retailers such as Costco have strong results in the same economy.

Fuchs writes, “The economy is slow sure, but performance is split. Then, rather than the first quote showcasing the economy excuse as it did in so many other articles about Sears, the Journal’s shaping quote dealt with the difference in merchandising between Sears and Costco:

‘Costco is fundamentally a very good company offering discounted products that are broadly appreciated,’ said Mike Moriarty, a partner at A.T. Kearney. ‘But department stores like Sears keep trying to tailor their offerings for their targeted consumer group, while basically everyone is a price shopper at this point.’

“Even the caption to a photo of the entry to a Sears store carries this message: ‘Sears saw same-store sales fall almost 10% in the first quarter as shoppers poured into discounters like Costco, where same-store sales increased 8%.’

“Listen to The Business Press Maven and The Wall Street Journal on this one: it’s not the economy with Sears. And though the stores need physical freshening, it not that either. It’s the merchandising, stupid.”

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