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
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