Keeping Consumers Consuming : Retailing: Stores seek strategies to retain holiday momentum. Novelties, price cuts and early spring lines are among the ploys.
Hoping to maintain some of the sales momentum of the holiday shopping season, retailers are developing strategies to generate customer traffic in January and February.
Many retailers will continue to use novelty items--such as Mickey Mouse ties and other products bearing the image of popular characters--to generate excitement among shoppers.
Department stores are turning to discount pricing to sell everything from washing machines to wash-and-wear clothing. Many retailers are using observances such as Valentine’s Day to get the attention and dollars of consumers.
And retailers are offering their spring line of clothing in this winter of 1993--weeks to months earlier than usual--to meet the demands of clothes-conscious consumers.
Indeed, there has been a revival in the apparel industry. Consumer demand for clothing did not grow from 1989 through 1991, the first three-year slump for the industry since World War II, said Ira Kalish, a retail analyst at the Los Angeles offices of Management Horizons, a division of the business services giant Price Waterhouse.
“The situation began to change in mid-1992,” Kalish said. “There is tremendous pent-up demand for apparel, and department stores benefited from that demand.”
Among those trying to capitalize on the drive is Los Angeles-based Carter Hawley Hale Stores, which operates the Broadway department store chain. Historically, Carter Hawley has stocked its stores with spring apparel in February and March, but the chain began to offer some spring clothing in December and has expanded its inventory this month. Clothing was a strong seller during the holiday season at the Broadway stores.
“We want to keep the sales momentum going, but we realize that (California) is still in recession,” said William Dombrowski, a Carter Hawley spokesman. “Consumers are responding to new merchandise if it’s fashionable and priced right.”
Another major retailer--Mervyn’s--struck a chord with consumers during the holidays by offering ties bearing the image of Mickey Mouse, an accessory produced by Los Angeles-based Cervantes Neckwear.
Rudy Cervantes, owner of the company, has been selling ties bearing the Mickey Mouse image for 20 years--but he said 1992 sales were triple the usual annual volume.
Cervantes, who has sold his ties primarily to small stores and gift shops, credits much of the sales surge to Mervyn’s, which decided to carry the line last year. “People wanted my ties because they were looking for something different--something that would make them feel good,” he said.
Retailers are not relying as much this year on clearance sales, usually a dominant feature of January. Instead, more merchants are offering discount pricing on certain items, having struck deals with their suppliers. Sears is among those making extensive use of this practice, known as a planned sales promotion.
“We arranged (smaller) planned inventories for Christmas because we did not want to rely as much on (January) clearance sales,” said Matt Howard, senior vice president for marketing at Sears.
For example, Sears offered refrigerators, washing machines and dryers at low prices in early January. The company’s sales of appliances were already strong late last year, and the giant retailer is trying to maintain that momentum.
Meanwhile, bookstores and other retailers are prodding consumers to observe noteworthy dates by spending money.
“In January there are books that help people with their New Year’s resolutions,” said Sally Dedecker, a spokeswoman for Nashville-based Ingram Distribution Group, a major national book distributor. “The (presidential) inauguration is coming up--the perfect time to promote American history books. There are books for Valentine’s Day in February. And February is Black History Month--and that’s a sales opportunity.”
The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda saw a sales opportunity on two notable dates: the birthday of Elvis Presley (Jan. 8) and the birthday of former President Richard M. Nixon (Jan. 9). The library, which has a gift shop, has been promoting the sale of a T-shirt with a caption that reads “The President and the King.”
The caption describes the T-shirt’s photograph-based image of Nixon and the self-styled king of rock and roll. The T-shirt and a watch bearing the same image were heavily promoted last weekend, and the items have been hot sellers, said Kevin Cartwright, assistant director of the library.
