News: Myer Holdings Q1 sales grow 0.1%, page-9

AFR's article on consumer confidence a couple of days ago rings to mind with these results. Some of the choice quotes from the article for me were:
"Downcast consumers have just racked up the longest-run of pessimism since the early 1990s recession – excluding the global financial crisis – casting a serious shadow over retailers’ hopes for a buoyant Christmas season"
"The survey showed households regarding now as a good time to buy a major item fell 0.8 per cent - with 38 per cent saying they would spend less on Christmas gifts compared to last year.
Half said it would be the same and 12 per cent said more."

This makes retail a tough place to be. Myer has probably done well to maintain/slightly increase revenue during this time and over the longer term new campaigns/brand positioning and store refurbishments will pay out alongside the improvements in consumer technology coming through. However, this will coincide with an improved consumer sentiment/outlook IMO.

For me Myer is a good buy/hold long term investment but in the near term the shorts will determine the SP. I'm still surprised that a player with a 3 to 5 year payback period in mind has not swooped in yet to buy this. Div yield at current prices is still attractive alone.