Newell Brands says Retailers are Cutting Consumer-Goods Orders

Retailers are reducing orders for the fall more than expected, consumer-goods supplier Newell Brands Inc. said on Wednesday, a sign that merchants are stepping up efforts to pare back their swollen inventory stockpiles.

The distributor of Sharpie markers, Yankee Candle and other consumer products cut its sales outlook for the third quarter and for the year, and now expects a decline in sales from a year ago, when retailers were bulking up on inventories depleted early in the pandemic and manufacturers were scrambling to scale up production.

The consumer market has shifted dramatically this year, with high inflation cutting into spending and shoppers turning away from some goods in favor of travel and services. Retailers including Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Macy’s Inc. that pulled orders forward to get around supply-chain disruptions are discounting some goods, seeking to slough off excess inventories to off-price outlets and canceling orders with overseas suppliers.