With the economy going down… and then up… and then a little up… and then down again, people don’t have as much money to buy those sneakers, shoes, 22’s, suits shirts and pants. Apparel easily becomes the bastard child when it comes to peoples wallets. I mean, come on; if food prices go up, you still got to each and if gas goes up you still got to go to work and have hot water. So while this may be the Year of the Jordan, maybe, just maybe businesses in the world of clothes and footwear might take a hit.
After reading this article here on how apparel business might have a hard time this year, it looks like analysts are counting out businesses in retail and clothing due to all the reasons mentioned above and then some.
Say Good Bye to the 30 and 45 dollar t-shirt?
As you may or may not know last year was the year of color when it came to sneakers and in order to match, all you really had to do was get a t-shirt. In NYC the hottest t-shirt of 07 was the I Love NY t-shirt. You could get any color even though officially there are only 3 (black, white and pink off the official NYC Visitors site). You also still had the left over Brooklyn t-shirts from 06 still around as well in assorted colors. The question I have is what will happen this year? What will happen to the smaller cothing companies and niche brands? If Mariah married Nick Cannon, owner of PNB, will she be in the poor house? What happens to ALIFE, Todd Smith, Creative Recreation and other clothing and footwear lines?
When will it get better? Maybe after taxes come in for 2009. I do think though, that niche brands might not be in too much trouble cause of brand loyalty and he people they focus on has more discretionary money, but who knows. PNB Nation used to be a brand you could get everywhere, but now it is a highly focused clothing brand. Maybe all brands should think about that.
But it looks like Linens ‘n Things won’t make it that far.
For those getting that 300, 600 and 1200 dollar stimulus package rebates, there are PLENTY of businesses setting up to GET AT THAT PAPER offering 300, 600 and 1200 dollar gift certificates… WOWWOW.
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