Retail Up In Feb - But Wait...

Increase sales and go out of business... just about any company that fails see a sales increase just before th doors shut. of course, it is called liquidation. Another version is big sales and what did not sale, a few steps before liquidation.

An article tells us retailers got a bit of a reprieve in February. For the first time in I don't know how long, I made purchases at JCPenney and Sears in February. I occasionally walk malls to see what is going on, and observe certain departments to benchmark any changes. I got a couple of 100% cotton shirts at Sears for $6 each, normally $50. A sweater for $12 at Penney's, normally $80, the best they were selling in the fall. Those are pretty good prices, and in Feb you'd expect them to be pricing the last of their fall stock at clearance prices.

Problem was, this stuff was stacked to the ceilings. It wasn't the last, it looked like the first. The amount of inventory was overwhelming, meaning they didn't move it before Christmas as planned. And yes, they were enjoying a sales increase in February, because the stuff was going out the door below cost. And as I walked around, some menswear basics were sold out, like white tshirts, which suggests things are so bad they cannot replenish basics.

Their model of selling at a loss and making it up on the credit card interest rate is self-defeating during a recession. Be careful if you get orders from Macy's, Sears, JCPenney's, stick with small repeat orders, if at all... my guess is in this downturn some if not all of them will go under.

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