The Retail View From Wells Fargo

It’s a complicated retail world.  Consumers are spending differently, investors are skittish and the pressure to transform — technologically and otherwise — is intense. And the coronavirus has only stirred up more uncertainty, threatening supply chains and cutting sales in China.  As a key retail lender, Wells Fargo has been there every step of the way, giving the high-level banking duo of Irene Rosen Marks and Lynn Whitmore an especially close read on how the industry is changing.  “We continue to see the dichotomy between the haves and the have nots,” said Marks, who is a managing director and head of corporate banking in the firm’s consumer and retail group.  “Some companies just really get it,” she said. “They have product people want to buy, they are delivering it in whatever way people want to buy it — any combination of buying online, on their phone, in store, picking up wherever. And others are just really struggling to keep up and manage.”  There’s not one thing that has thrust companies into one group or the other, although Marks said some companies are simply carrying too much debt and don’t have the financial flexibility to adjust.  Whitmore works closely with Marks, but has a more-focused role as managing

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

from WWDWWD https://ift.tt/2SX5mPc