No Sophomore Slump for MRket
The MRket menswear show, held Aug. 24–26 at The Venetian hotel, was about 40 percent larger than its inaugural run last February. Buyer traffic peaked at times to a crowd about two-thirds larger than the previous show’s, said show director Lizette Chin. “Everybody who walked in has been optimistic but realistic,” she said.
Show Director of Sales Larry Hymes said MRket, which features several luxury European labels, “is a little more recession-proof than others.”
Still, buyers such as Rich Brady of Brady’s in Coronado, Calif., and Mike Zack of Circa 2000 menswear in Plano, Texas, characterized business as only “okay.”
“There’s definitely a different frame of mind out there right now,” said Brady, whose store is based in the historic Hotel del Coronado, located near San Diego. “The visitors are more apt to let go with the dough, but they may not come into the stores as often as they were.”
Added Zack: “You have to force the business now. The bottom line is that people still have to wake up and put on a shirt and pair of pants.”
U.S.-made lines were at the show, taking advantage of the higher prices from European lines due to the weakness of the dollar in Europe.
Jose Cerrillo of Chula Vista, Calif.–based Continental Leather said he noticed that buyers were taking advantage of the weak dollar by picking up his company’s lightweight leather jackets and shirts. He was also selling hand-tooled belts featuring handcrafted buckles made from German silver. One particular handbag, wholesale priced at $249, was being marked up to $900–$1,200 in some stores, he said. —Robert McAllister
