Chico's CEO: Consumers scared by government

It doesn't help when government ineptitude scares your customers away at a time when boosting business should be front and center of the political agenda.

Dave Dyer, the president and CEO of Fort Myers-based Chico's FAS, says the women's apparel company saw a drop in sales during the debt-ceiling debate in Washington, D.C.

“We saw it ... as a company for a couple of weeks and it was really timed right with all the stuff going on in Washington,” Dyer told analysts during a conference call last week to discuss Chico's earnings.

“I think that when we had the congressional stalemate that we have had, and 24/7 news on how bad things are, obviously it affects not only the psyche, I think, of people and spending,” Dyer said in response to a question from Margaret Whitfield, an analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach. “I think that if anything [what] our government has done is put fear into the consumer and has, through their inaction or inability to solve problems, made the selling environment a little bit more difficult.”

Fortunately, the debacle didn't last longer than a few weeks. “It's been actually quite good over the last few days this week,” Dyer reassured analysts.