California Apparel News

Good news and bad news kept fashion businesses guessing during the Los Angeles Majors Market, which mostly focused on juniors fashions and ran April 5–7 at the California Market Center.

Many of the traditional department stores and chains served by this market were still reeling from the worst Christmas holiday market in more than a generation. The majority of department stores reported double-digit declines in their same-store sales in the months after the 2008 Christmas holiday.

The picture looked even bleaker when Gottschalks Inc., a regular Majors Market customer, announced it was going out of business March 30.

However, retail sales made small but significant strides during the last week of March and the first week of April. Retail sales for the week ending April 4 increased 0.6 percent compared with the same time in the previous year, according to trade group International Council of Shopping Centers. Retail sales for the week ending March 28 grew 1.1 percent compared with the same time in the previous year.

Under this backdrop of mixed economic news, salespeople working the Majors Market reported doing stable business with mostly cautious buyers. Alison Budow, owner of the Alison Budow Sales showroom, forecast this market’s sales would be even compared with the same Majors Market in the previous year. However, business was better than expected at her showroom during this market. “Money is tight. Budgets are smaller. I’ll be happy with breaking even,” she said.

Retailers mostly were placing test orders for vendors’ wares, according to George Gati, sales manager for the New York–based Say What brand of sweaters. Gati was among a group of 24 temporary showrooms showing in the CMC’s 13th-floor penthouse.

While the crucial Back-to-School season probably was on most buyers’ minds during the market, many showroom owners said store buyers were most interested in making orders for Immediate deliveries. Mary Cesario-Sofio, co-owner of the Hale Mary showroom, said buyers visiting her showroom were taking notes on Fall fashions but were making orders on fashions with late-April delivery dates.

Buyer delegations from retailers Macy’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Wet Seal, Arden B, Tilly’s, Diane’s Beachwear, Loehmann’s and juniors e-commerce boutique Alloy reportedly walked the show. California Market Center Senior Vice President Joanne Lee said they made the show a success. “There was a steady stream of traffic throughout this Majors Market. The exhibitors came into the show with a realistic outlook, wrote orders, and were happy with the market overall,” Lee wrote in a prepared statement.

Scheduling proved to be a problem for some retailers. In the past, the Majors Market started on Mondays, but this time, the show opened on a Sunday so it would end a day before the April 8 Passover holiday. Budow said some buyers could not come to the market because the opening date fell on Palm Sunday. Also, other buyers did not come because the market’s end was still too close to the start of Passover. Some buyers would not work on a weekend day, said Eme Mizioch, owner of the Joken Style showroom.

On April 6, Directives West presented the only runway trend presentation during Majors Market. Held at the CMC’s Fashion Theater, the runway show featured whimsical takes on lumberjack chic, border-hopping ethnic styles, glamorous Goth basics and fashions that took a futuristic approach to everything from dresses to jeans. Plaids, skinny jeans, miniskirts, leggings, trim ranging from studs to feathers and fur, and scads of layers proved to be Fall 2009 must-haves.

The show drew several hundred buyers but not the standing-room-only crowds of past seasons. Sandy Richman, the buying office’s founder, greeted the buyers in attendance with a few words of encouragement and advice. “Aim to dazzle in these difficult times,” she said. “Business will ultimately bounce back, and at the end of the day, it is all about the product.” The Internet, she said, is still abuzz with activity, buying and marketing opportunities. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other Internet portals represent opportunities for retailers looking to connect with juniors and contemporary customers. “Teens are still buying,” Richman said.

CMC tradition changed during the recent Majors Market when veteran retail consultant and trend forecaster Barbara Fields, owner of the Barbara Fields Buying Office, eschewed her biannual fashion show and trend seminar. Instead, she opted to hold private seminars with her clients, which have included Macy’s, JCPenney and Kohl’s.

Fields said the change in format had nothing to do with finances. Rather, it was an effort to shake up the status quo and give her clients more focused, personal attention, which could come from private meetings rather than fashion shows where they are sitting next to their competition.

Fields gave her clients a booklet called “Fields’ Key Trends for Fall 2009.” Trends included scarf attachments for T-shirts, deep-V-necks for other T-shirts, vests to go over the tees, skinny pants and long maxi dresses.