In July, Container Store chairman and CEO William “Kip” Tindell sparked a round of headlines when he blamed the retailer’s dismal Q1 earnings on a pervasive “retail funk.” 

“We don’t see any geographical differences between it. It seems to be all over the place, and we have a pretty robust database,” Tindell said then. “Our highest-end customer seems to be a little bit infrequently shopping us, for some darn reason [...] I mean, we have a very uneven economic recovery still. So for a long time, it was the lower-end retailers [who] were suffering and the higher end, we’re doing better, and we were doing better. Now it seems to be more democratic. It seems to be kind of across the board.”

But as Q2 wraps up, talk of the fabled retail funk has subsided, at least somewhat.

Here are Retail Dive's observations from this past round of earnings reports.

General retail at a crossroads

With the U.S. economy steadily recovering, America’s big general retailers look like they need to start thinking about changing their ways.

Wal-Mart Stores, for starters, reported flat sales that were the result of poor performance at U.S. stores. 

Meanwhile, many took notice of Target’s big Q2 drop in profits, due largely to expenses allocated while mopping up the massive data breach late last year and, presumably, preventing another one. Less noticed was Target’s uptick in sales.

In any case, while Target and Wal-Mart Stores are both making improvements to their e-commerce efforts, they may neglect their physical stores at their peril. 

Teen apparel a whole new ballgame

While Target and Wal-Mart Stores were lowering expectations, teen apparel retailers managed to keep expectations steady.

Wall Street smiled at Aeropostale’s move in re-hiring its former CEO, Julian Geiger. American Eagle Outfitters is still looking for a CEO, but has done a good job of cleaning out its inventory so that it can be ready for the next big thing that may finally bring teenagers back to stores. 

But that next big thing may be elusive. Abercrombie & Fitch, whose CEO Mike Jeffries is still hanging on for the time being, didn’t see much movement forward in Q2.

One question may be whether teens will still need this many mall-based retailers in the future. They are apparently losing interest in spending money on clothes, preferring to save up for the latest and best smartphone. And they're done walking around like human billboards for clothing brands. 

Electronics in the doldrums

Despite our technology-oriented age, one of the least hopeful sectors in retail is electronics. Despite Best Buy’s best efforts at a turnaround, including improved e-commerce, sales growth continues to elude them. 

Meanwhile, RadioShack may need help from one of its investors to avoid bankruptcy. Perhaps the problem is that we are in tech-saturated moment, which is why demand for smartphones and televisions remains soft.

Home improvement the sunshine on a cloudy day

The bright spot for retail in the first half of the year so far has been home improvement stores. Home Depot, for example, wowed with its Q2 sales and profits reports. While Lowe’s didn’t do as well, it also saw continued sales growth. 

Talk of a “retail funk” may have subsided somewhat for the time being. Back-to-school season is still ongoing, with mixed results. And, of course, the upcoming holiday season will be a true test of retailers’ efforts to appeal to shoppers in many ways and on multiple devices.

We'll be watching closely.