retailers

After years of deflation, prices on the high street are creeping up as the financial crisis bites

Over the past decade one of the most enduring trends on the high street has been price deflation. Fast and inexpensive fashion has become a fact of life for consumers used to being able to grab the latest looks at throwaway prices.

The rise of value fashion has seen some of the biggest success stories of recent years with the likes of Primark, New Look and the supermarkets establishing cut-price clothing offers.

Milder weather, new spring merchandise and tight control over inventories helped many US retailers to better-than-expected sales in February. But even so, industry observers are warning this is unlikely to mark the beginning of a recovery.

Today’s entry came in from a very frustrated swim wear retailer. While few make swimwear, I thought his letter was very educational, providing insight as to why retailers become manufacturers. If you don’t want your doors competing with you, look for the holes in the market and the content of their complaints. Retailers are in a unique position to take the pulse of the marketplace. By the way, this writer is very serious about doing this and has made extensive plans to pursue the project that I have not published here. The summary of complaints is:

* Timely product delivery during critical selling time periods
* Range of products available
* The ability to re-order good sellers through out the selling season
* Fulfillment problems such as wrong sizes and quantities

Retailers are still suffering under the weight of a harsh economy, but vendors and retailers reported being bullish about sales during the Class trade show, held Feb. 2–3 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium amid balmy 80-degree weather in Santa Monica, Calif.

“The holiday is over, and everyone is being cautiously optimistic,” said Don Zuidema, partner in the high-profile West Hollywood, Calif., boutique LASC. The retailer said Class represented an opportunity to take a few risks on new, smaller men’s lines after toughing out a harsh winter holiday season. Zuidema wrote orders for Comune of Costa Mesa, Calif., which debuted in August, as well as emerging lines Bjorn Borg and Future Heretics.

U.S. retailers reported another month of weak sales, though in some cases not as bad as feared. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rebounded in January with results above expectations.