Promotions Drive November '05 Sales
Retailers hope cold weather boosts December performance.
Apparel stores were among the retail sector’s winners when consumers crowded malls in late November to hunt for Holiday bargains. The sector’s sales rose 3.2 percent, according to the New York–based International Council of Shopping Centers. It’s an improvement compared with the sector’s performance during the same time in the previous year.
In November 2004, apparel store sales decreased 1.1 percent compared to the previous year. Retail analyst Jeffrey Van Sinderen said the improved numbers depended too heavily on promotions. “This November felt more promotional in apparel,” said Van Sinderen, who follows trends for Los Angeles–based B. Riley & Co.
“The biggest concern is the promotions will get more intense,” he said. “I can’t imagine it will get less promotional unless sales improve vastly.”
However, other analysts believe the sector’s performance will continue to improve as weather in California and across the United States becomes colder.
Weather in Los Angeles is forecast to stay in the crisp, high-60-degree range throughout December, according to The Weather Channel’s Web site, www.weather.com. It’s a change from the balmy 80-degree weather that preceded Thanksgiving Day weekend.
This change means Californians will start buying winter clothes, said Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association.
“All we needed was a change of seasons,” she said. “Now people can get out of those awful flip-flops. Now they can buy a pair of boots and a new sweater.”
Jennifer Lesser, a manager and buyer at Horn, a specialty store on Los Angeles’ Robertson Boulevard, reported that her customers’ tastes changed once the weather got chillier.
“You can buy T-shirts everyday here. Now people are inspired to buy boots and scarves,” she said. “We’re selling a lot of long-sleeve shirts and a lot of jackets.”
But not every retailer found a shift in consumer tastes. Shauna Stein, co-owner of Los Angeles specialty store On Sunset, said consumers’ attention was still dominated by department-store promotions, not winter clothes. “When every department store advertises a markdown, it teaches people to wait for sales,” Stein said. She added that more customers were attracted to her store because of her Holiday sale, which started Dec.5, not the change of weather.
Sales mostly drove the performance of November’s winners. Comparable-store sales for Wal-Mart’s total United States operations were 4.3 percent, which the retail giant’s executives credited to aggressive promotions.
Luxury department stores reported sluggish November same-store sales. Neiman Marcus reported 4.0 percent. Nordstrom reported same-store sales of 2.8 percent. Van Sinderen thought their business should improve.
“The high end is not so promotionally oriented,” he said. “As they start to do promotions, they will start to get business they did not get in the past couple of weeks.”
—Andrew Asch
