Asit Sharma

That's always a mistake.

Put a pause.

between the stimulus and the response, take a walk, think about life affirmation and the fact that things will probably be there when the dust settles and make your decisions accordingly.

We're seeing the desperation heave.

As consumers have pulled back over the last couple of years, so much more depends on this group of days, starting with October 30th or 31st and running on through.

It used to be such an event, and retailers took such great advantage of our excitement as consumers.

The biggest retailers, the ones that really moved the needle in the industry, of course, are the ones who've made lots of investments in shipping and logistics.

They have the ability now to make money across a spate of days, and that puts pressure on the rest of the industry to respond.

It's never-ending.

By the way, I saw my first Christmas trees not long after Halloween out there, so there's some more merchandising ahead.

But I think this is a natural evolution of the way

Just as in big tech, we see fewer companies swing the results for many, the imprint of Amazon and Walmart, Best Buy, these big retailers, is something that the entire industry has to adapt to.

Unfortunately for some of us who used to have fun on Black Friday, that means it's a never-ending slog to find deals and keep trying to stay awake late at night for some of us clicking away.

Yeah.

3% is difficult if your wages aren't rising by at least the same amount.

We've seen wage inflation cool.

The ability of what we get paid to keep up with what we have to purchase, that's really come to parity.

Not great for the consumer.

I think the

retail environment is fragile.