Compare these two recent articles, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

Family Dollar Stores Inc. posted a bigger-than-expected 6.4% increase in same-store sales for its latest quarter as the discount chain boosted its earnings forecast for the period on strong demand for consumable goods.

The company sees earnings for the fiscal second quarter ended Saturday of 59 cents to 61 cents. Family Dollar in January projected 48 cents to 52 cents a share, slightly above analysts’ then-estimates, with same-store sales rising 3% to 5%.

Compare that report to this one:

NEW YORK – Macy’s Inc. said Thursday that sales at stores open at least a year were down 8.5% in February. Analysts at Thomson Reueters estimated Macy’s same-store sales would fall by 7.3%. Total sales for the four weeks ended Feb. 28 were $1.58 billion, down 9.3% from a year ago.

When times get tough, everyone backs off a bit. Walmart posted a 5.1% rise in February sales and Target plans on opening a number of stores in the next few months. The secondary (liquidation) market is doing really well these days also. Big Lots was quoted as saying that the current down turn in the real estate market is a great opportunity for Big Lots to expand and open new stores in new markets.

As with everything these days, it is all about SAVING money.