Coping With Lower Price Points
A year ago today Lehman Brothers collapsed, setting in motion one of the biggest financial crises this century. Since then, a lot has changed in the world of luxury apparel. We’ve seen 30% sales decreases since October of last year and the market is just now starting to improve. In response to the situation, almost [...]
Strategies For Surviving The Economic Slowdown
I have been talking to a lot of retailers over the past few weeks about how to deal with the sales slowdown caused by our country’s current economic crisis. This crisis is sure to affect business going forward, making it more important than ever to put retail best practices into place. Here is what we [...]
Beware Of Discounting Luxury Goods
A lot of people in the retail world have been talking about a recent Wall Street Journal article asserting that the economic slowdown will cause luxury prices to permanently come down. I don’t really believe this, or at least I don’t believe that luxury retailers should let this happen. First of all, real, high-end luxury [...]
Markdown Is Your Friend
Recently I heard the story of a retailer who never took markdowns because she believed that taking markdowns was a sign of business failure. This surprised me because markdowns are a necessity for most retailers, allowing them to create cash flow and generate open-to-buy. Of course, it’s important to know when and how to take [...]
Winning When Your Vendors Become Competitors
Vendors have been on a retail push in recent years, opening standalone stores and selling direct to consumers online. This has left specialty retailers in a difficult position as they try to manage competition from their own vendors. So, what do you do when your key vendors start moving in on your turf? If you [...]
