A Warm Start to Winter Leaves Apparel Retailers Out in the Cold

Sadie Keljikian, Express Trade Capital

This past weekend marks the highest December temperatures in 142 years, so naturally, consumers are not overly eager to buy winter coats, boots and gloves. As a result, many clothing retailers are suffering massive drops in cold weather apparel sales.  Among them is Stuart Greenberg’s Corniche Furs in Manhattan, which has seen a 30% drop in sales this month. In a recent New York Times article Greenberg said, “For the first 10 years of our business, we never even paid attention to the weather. It always just got cold.”

The warm weather is even impacting businesses like Macy’s, the Gap, and Nordstrom. All predict the need to offer winter wear at steep discounts to move surplus merchandise as the season goes on, but a company like Corniche Furs relies on the winter and, specifically, the holiday season to bolster its profits for the entire year. Many of the suffering businesses stocked particularly large quantities of boots, coats, and winter accessories at the start of the season, expecting a long and cold winter like last year, but weather analysis company Planalytics says that the volatile temperatures of the last few years cannot be expected to repeat themselves.

Companies like Zara and H&M have done reasonably well so far this season, largely due to their ”fast-fashion” approach. Fast-fashion retailers, or those which receive small shipments at a time and have a higher rate of turnover, have a much easier time adjusting when circumstances are less than favorable.

If temperatures drop dramatically in the next week, fortune may smile on retailers who rely on cold weather apparel. Otherwise, they may need to adjust their merchandise to accommodate the ever-changing weather patterns.

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