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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2004)
Frivolous fashions Retailers embellish old trends to lure consumers, with luxury stores expected to garner the biggest sales BY ANNE D'INNOCENZIO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — The nation’s retail ers are hoping furry ponchos, fur lined flip-flops and sweater sets adorned with multiple broaches will excite shoppers this holiday season and lure them into stores and malls earlier than in previous years. Some of the merchandise is down right silly, but store owners hope all the frivolity will help them improve on last year’s 4 percent increase in sales at stores opened at least a year, which was the biggest gain since 1999 when retailers posted a 5.4 per cent increase. “Many of these trends are not new but will be hotter because they have a lot more pizzazz,” said David Wolfe, creative director for the Do neger Group, a New York-based mer chandise buying office. “I don’t think this is going be the most tasteful Christmas, but it could be the most fun. And it’s selling.” At J.C. Penney Co. Inc., hot holiday items include lab-made pink sapphire rings, rabbit-fur ponchos and hot pink leather gloves. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is selling hot pink puffy suede boots and sweaters with faux-fur trims, and after having success with broaches this past fall, Sears, Roebuck and Co. is featur ing two or three of these ornate pins on sweaters and capes. At luxury store Bergdorf Good man, owned by the Neiman-Marcus Group Inc., $1,480 mink handbags with dragon embellishments have been big hits with shoppers, as have $2,200 body-hugging wraps in faux leopard print, vice president of fash ion Robert Burke said. As the holiday 2004 shopping season kicks into gear amid an im proving but still challenging econo my, many merchants are trying to be more creative to get consumers to buy in yet another season that hasn’t yielded any particular must haves besides miniature iPods from Apple Computer Inc. and flat-screen television sets. The mood of most retailers has im proved in recent weeks as falling fuel prices and strong job gains revived consumer spending momentum that slowed in the summer. Most consumer surveys on spend ing indicate that shoppers’ intentions are similar to a year ago. The Confer ence Bodic, w. Mew York-based re search firm, said its survey suggests U.S. households will spend an aver age of $476 on gifts this season, up from $455 a year ago. A separate sur vey conducted by The Gallup Organi zation found that shoppers plan to spend $730, down slightly from $734 a year ago. Still, as Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Coun cil of Shopping Centers, puts it: “The conditions are right for a pretty good Christmas.” He predicts same-store sales increases of 3 to 4 percent for the holiday period. The Washington, D.C.-based Na tional Retail Federation projects that total sales, after restaurant and auto sales are excluded, will increase 4.5 percent for the November-December period. That would be less than the 5.1 percent gain of a year earlier. Analysts expect that luxury stores will do the best. Discounters are ex pected to see their gains muted be cause of the high gasoline prices. Mall-based apparel stores will prob ably have a mixed bag of results. Teen retailers like American Eagle Outfitters Inc. are expected to do well, fueled by preppy looks, while women’s apparel chains such as Talbots Inc. could suffer. With a strong sales streak behind it, Bergdorf Goodman feels confi dent that its more lavish offerings will win over customers. “Our con sumer is looking for unique prod ucts. The more unique and the more special, the more attracted they are,” Burke said. Still, even retailers know that throwing all those broaches, fur trims and other embellishments on the selling floor can confuse con sumers, turning them into fashion victims. “You have to be careful not to add too much or it can be over the top,” said Lee Antonio, a Sears spokeswoman. Priceypartridges According to a Pittsburgh-based bank, items in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" exceed $66,000 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PITTSBURGH — Forget the par tridge in a pear tree. How about a new Jaguar, a BMW 7 Series, a Mer cedes-Benz or a 1949 Rolex? The vintage watch and luxury cars would cost as much as all the gifts listed in the yuletide classic “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” according to PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Each year, the Pittsburgh-based bank does a tongue-in-cheek tally of how much the drummers drumming, pipers piping, turtle doves and gold en rings would set you back if you bought them for your true love at to day’s prices. The bank began publishing the list in 1982 for institutional clients and released it to the public the next year. So what are all the gifts going for this year? If they were bought repeat edly on each day as the song sug gests, they’d hit $66,334, up from $65,264 last year. Buying each item just once would cost $17,279. That’s still enough for a Mini Cooper, a ride in a Russian MiG jet fighter, a 10-acre ranch in Col orado or a 1920s baseball signed by Babe Ruth. The nine ladies dancing would leave the largest dent in your wallet this year, coming in at $4,400. The eight maids-a-milking are a bargain at $41.20. Outsourcing, alas, factors into the equation. “As a result, the cost of skilled dancers has steadily increased, while the unskilled milk maids haven’t managed an increase in pay for many years,” said Jeff Klein top, chief investment strategist for PNC Advisors. The prices for the birds — swans, geese, canaries (calling birds), hens, doves and partridges — didn’t change much from last year, coming in at $4,201, compared with $4,138, according to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens. But with the declining dollar, you would have saved buying the three French hens last year, when they were $15, compared with $45 this year. Ssissif-V A famous shopper sez... HO HO HO! 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