You don’t need to be a genius to see the global economy slowing. While the US is one homogenous retail market, Europe is quite the opposite, making it tougher to quantify the sales trajectory. Check out the comp charts below. Let’s also see how different management teams have changed their tone towards Europe…

WESTERN EUROPE
"I can sit here and talk about the upside of Western Europe here for quite some time if you want me to, but I'm pretty excited about it because we put a lot of work into that and I think it just goes to show you we have a good handle on what it takes to fix some of these markets and what we need to do. Sometimes it may take a little longer than others, but at the end of the day I think we've demonstrated our ability to get these things turned around and get them back on a growth schedule again." - Charlie Denson President of Nike Brand, Sept. 20, 2007

GREAT BRITAIN
JJB Sports - "The worst retail recession I have ever known" Sept. 26, 2008

Adidas - Sales declined "exclusively as a result of continued declines in the UK" Aug 5, 2008

Polo Ralph Lauren - "There is talk that maybe England would begin to catch some of the cold we have" Aug. 06, 2008

VFC - Beginning to see weakness. July 15, 2008

IRELAND
Marks and Spencer - "Ireland specifically is suffering probably more than the UK at the moment." Oct. 2, 2008

SPAIN/PORTUGAL
Inditex - "Spain is slightly below the average"
Analyst response: "That seems to imply that Spanish like for likes are probably down 3% to 4%." "That's a bit more than slightly below average." Sept. 17, 2008

Nike
Q1 2008 (Sept. 20, 2007) "Spain and Portugal had a fantastic quarter"
Q1 2009 (Sept 24, 2008) "Probably the biggest challenge right now in Spain and Portugal"

Quiksilver - "Southern Europe has been hit harder than others." Spain was the example. Sept. 4, 2008

Polo Ralph Lauren - "Spain is feeling a pull back in what had been a very robust business" "There is some concern in Spain" Aug. 06, 2008

VFC - Beginning to see weakness in the 2nd consecutive quarter. July 15, 2008

FRANCE
Nike - France has been difficult for Nike since Q1 2008
1Q 09: "We are seeing some tough economic conditions in Spain, Italy, and France"
"The softness is really along the Mediterranean, Iberia, Southern France, Italy …"

ITALY
Nike – Softness and tough economic conditions in Italy. Sept. 24, 2008
VFC - Beginning to see weakness in the 2nd consecutive quarter. July 15, 2008

Adidas - Double digit increases and higher growth in 2008
"We are making progress in several markets from Italy to Central Europe" Aug 5, 2008