Investment Firm Staying Away from Specialty Retail

New York, NY, April 15, 2008--According to investment analysis firm Seeking Alpha, specialty retailers such as flooring stores are likely to be in for a rough year.

The reports cites several factors, including the bleak housing market, strong competition from discounters and online retailers, and consumer confidence at multi-year lows.

It notes that many specialty retailers are now selling services as a means to distinguish themselves from rivals and boost sales. For example, PetSmart, the largest pet store, is also the largest pet services provider for services like grooming, training and boarding facilities.

Other retailers have introduced their own store branded products to increase margins and draw increased awareness to the store brand versus third-party brands. Office supplies store Staples offers more than 2,000 private label products.

The firms says that one of the retailers it is watching closely is Lumber Liquidators.