"Managing healthcare costs is a significant challenge for any business and the retail industry, which is the second largest employer in the US, bears a large brunt of the burden," said Catherine Fox-Simpson, a partner in the Retail and Consumer Products Practice at BDO Seidman LLP. "How retailers react to healthcare reform will be critical to its success but at the end of the day retailers need employees to run operations and healthcare will be considered just another cost of doing business."

These findings are from the most recent edition of the BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey of CFOs which examined the opinions of 100 chief financial officers at leading retailers located throughout the country. The retailers in the study were among the largest in the country, with revenues ranging from $100 million to $100 billion, including 10 percent of the top 100 based on annual sales revenue. The survey was conducted in August and September of 2009.

Some of the major findings of BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey of CFOs:

-- Consumers Keen on Green. Only half (50%) of the retailers surveyed sell green products. However, of those who do sell sustainable products, 63 percent are noticing an increase in consumer demand for them.

-- No Comeback for Layaway. Retailers, most notably Kmart and Sears, reinstituted layaway programs last November largely in response to the economic downturn. However, while the option to pay in installments does appeal to budget-conscious consumers, its comeback will likely be short-lived. Despite a flurry of high profile layaway programs, a large majority (86%) of retailers do not plan to offer layaway programs for the 2009 holiday season- only 14 percent of retailers say they have layaway programs in place.

The BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey of CFOs is a national telephone survey conducted by Market Measurement, Inc., an independent market research consulting firm, whose executive interviewers spoke directly to chief financial officers, using a telephone survey conducted within a scientifically-developed, pure random sample of the nation's largest retailers (with revenues ranging from over $100 million to billions of dollars).

BDO Seidman, LLP has been a valued business advisor to retail and consumer products companies for almost 100 years. The firm works with a wide variety of retail clients, ranging from multinational Fortune 500 corporations to more entrepreneurial businesses, on a myriad of accounting, tax and other financial issues.

About BDO Seidman, LLP

BDO Seidman, LLP is a national professional services firm providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting services to a wide range of publicly traded and privately held companies. Guided by core values including, competence, honesty and integrity, professionalism, dedication, responsibility and accountability for almost 100 years, BDO Seidman provides quality service and leadership through the active involvement of our most experienced and committed professionals.

BDO Seidman serves clients through 37 offices and more than 400 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As a Member Firm of BDO International, BDO Seidman, LLP serves multi-national clients by leveraging a global network of 1,095 offices in 110 countries. BDO International is a worldwide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country.