LWW
08-19-2011, 09:15 AM
RISING PRICES ... AT CARTERESQUE LEVELS! (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BACK_TO_SCHOOL_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-19-10-27-42)
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Retailers are raising prices on merchandise an average of 10 percent across-the-board this fall in an effort to offset their rising costs for materials and labor. But merchants are worried that cash-strapped customers who are weighed down by economic woes will balk at price hikes. So, retailers are trying to raise prices without tipping off unsuspecting customers.
"Let the consumer trickery begin," said Brian Sozzi, Wall Street Strategies retail analyst
Retailers have long tried to mask price hikes - for instance, jacking them up more than needed so that they can offer a "sale" on the higher price. But the new strategies come as merchants' production and labor costs are expected to rise 10 percent to 20 percent in the second half of the year after having remained low during most of the past two decades. </div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Retailers are raising prices on merchandise an average of 10 percent across-the-board this fall in an effort to offset their rising costs for materials and labor. But merchants are worried that cash-strapped customers who are weighed down by economic woes will balk at price hikes. So, retailers are trying to raise prices without tipping off unsuspecting customers.
"Let the consumer trickery begin," said Brian Sozzi, Wall Street Strategies retail analyst
Retailers have long tried to mask price hikes - for instance, jacking them up more than needed so that they can offer a "sale" on the higher price. But the new strategies come as merchants' production and labor costs are expected to rise 10 percent to 20 percent in the second half of the year after having remained low during most of the past two decades. </div></div>