Women’s Wear sales were about even through the first quarter of the year, but we’ve recently seen a sales uptick in some of our client stores, driven by special events and office wear.
“Despite all the talk of caution over tariffs, wealthy consumers are less bothered by rising prices, and driving a lot of the business,” says Blacks’ President Steve Pruitt.
Let’s look at what ladies have been buying, and where the trends are heading as we look toward fall.
Through April, it has been a story of separates, with knit tops growing 7%, tops in general up 8%, and sales of bottoms increasing by 15%. We also saw a robust skirt business, with sales spiking in the double digits.
But in recent weeks, the dress business has roared back in some of our stores, after nearly a three-year slowdown.
“Buying more heavily into the dress business for Fall/Holiday seems to be a clear opportunity in these cases,” says Blacks’ Executive VP Matt Pruitt.
Some of the demand for dresses has been fueled by weddings, causing similar growth in formal menswear.
Turning to casual wear, denim is seeing a different story. After a decent start to the year, sales pulled back in April, down 15% among our client stores, with some pointing to a hesitancy around what’s trending – is it wide-legged jeans, the return of skinny, or playing it safe with a straight leg?
Some customers don’t want to invest in new styles if they’re not sure what the new look is, says Blacks’ Senior Analyst Mike McSheffrey. At the same time, they have a little of everything in their wardrobes already, so there’s no rush to buy the latest models.
Still, we expect denim to rebound for fall with more strength in wide-legged looks.
Outside of these core categories, the short, a spring/summer classic, is doing brisk business.
Woman’s wear appears to be on solid ground with more growth expected for fall. On average, we are planning our women’s wear clients up by the low single digits.
If you have a women’s wear business and need help identifying profit centers and driving growth, contact us at info@blksretail.com.
