They're trying to find all sorts of different ways to re-energize the consumer and the power of their brand.

You can't sit around and say it was the absolute hot item of the season because there wasn't enough of it around.

When gas prices go up 5 cents a gallon, that's maybe an extra $10 a week out of consumers' pockets. But when they're going up 15 cents and more, it means $20 extra a week.

Consumers traditionally barreled through and absorbed higher costs. But it's now no longer just their wallet that's being affected; their emotions are being affected.

Image has become important again for the teen consumer — and particularly for the young adult male. This is a generation that never even knew what a suit was, let alone saw their parents in one. They have discovered the suit.

The trend is migrating outward.