Former retail CEO warns consumer recession will see weak retailers 'really suffer': Not all boats rise

Former Toys ‘R’ Us CEO Gerald Storch unpacked the reality of retail inventories and consumer spending habits following the COVID-19 pandemic and record inflation. On "Varney & Co." Tuesday, Storch argued consumers are spending less on retail goods, ushering in a consumer recession in the near future.

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GERALD STORCH: Retailers were scared they weren't able to get inventory into the country for the holidays. And so they order just too much of everything. It came in the country. Consumers didn't want it. They changed their priorities more towards going out as opposed to staying in so all that home goods and stuff like that is just sitting on the shelves. Nobody wants it… there is a consumer slowdown on the way. It is coming. It isn't terrible yet. It's not like we're in a consumer recession, but I'm afraid we will be soon given the overall macro conditions. So the consumer slowdown plus the retailers brought in way too much of things they don't want. So they're going to recalibrate, get ready for the fall. And I think we're going to have a good fall for the strong retailers. But here we're going to see the weak retailers start to really suffer. We're no longer in an environment where all boats rise. 

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