If last year was the reverse of Murphy’s Law, when everything that could go right went right, then in 2011/12 Murphy was back and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Not only was the weather as bad as it could possibly be, but this was the year when most of the big cost increases were hitting the sales floor during a skittish economy. So the fact that business is down is hardly surprising, but the real question is how bad will it be?

The answer, we’re convinced after talking to lots of people, is that it isn’t as bad ... Log in to view full article.