After getting women hooked on fancy handbags and expensive shoes in recent years, retailers are trying to rekindle a love affair with clothes. Department stores are leading the charge, with Saks, Nordstrom and Macy’s improving in-house clothing lines and refurbishing women’s departments.
Retailers salvaged December sales figures with deep discounts, but the results released yesterday could spell trouble for the coming year for both the industry and the economy at large. Sales at stores open at least a year at major retail chains rose 3.4 percent compared with December 2010, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters, just above the 3.3 percent that analysts had expected.
Dollar General has benefited from cautious consumer spending in 2011, and it expects that momentum to continue in 2012. The company announced plans to open 625 new stores and add more than 6,000 new jobs in 2012. These new stores and jobs will be spread among Dollar General’s 38-state operating area, plus California and Massachusetts.
Macy's will close five Macy's and four Bloomingdale's stores that are underperforming. More than 830 workers will be affected by the closings — 375 at Macy's stores and 463 at Bloomingdale's. But many could have the option of taking jobs at new stores the company plans to open.
With Europeans and Asians buying fewer $65,000 diamond necklaces and $10,000 amethyst earrings, Tiffany & Co. may be in for a less-than-glittering 2012, as no U.S. luxury merchant is more exposed internationally. The world's second largest jeweler generates almost half its sales outside of the Americas, up from 38 percent in 2006, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
There was a time not so long ago when pop-up shops were a recession-era novelty, but now they feel like a staple of city retail. This year's crop included some big, fancy, pull-out-all-the-stops showcases, including temporary stores from H&M, ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, and Tommy Hilfiger.
Michael Fuller stood in the checkout aisle at a Wal-Mart in North Carolina trying to buy a vacuum cleaner, microwave oven and some other random products which totaled $476. He handed the cashier the fake $1 million bill and awaited his change.
Macy's, Wal-Mart and others continue to get high marks from Wall Street as the busy season draws to a close, while Sears proved that it's really not a jolly holiday for all stores. Wal-Mart's return to layaway helped the world's largest retailer and pressured others.
Preppy retailer Ralph Lauren moved, closed and opened so many times this year that Racked had to make a map to keep up. In the end, seven different locations were affected, making Ralph the retail conquistador of the year. Fitting for a guy who's partly famous for his safari gear.
Filene's Basement's has officially closed. A Security guard hired after the news of bankruptcy broke shared a few of his most memorable experiences over the past two months." Some women have cried at the thought of Filene's closing," he said. "One guy tried to steal $600 worth of ladies' clothing, swearing it was for his mother. And another woman bought 30 wedding dresses one day. She came back the next day and brought 35 more."
