In 2011 there will be new challenges and new opportunities for apparel manufacturers, retailers and brands. Based on insights from this month's just-style management briefing, we look at what the industy can expect this year.
Retail Stores
Selling more things at full price, controlling operating costs and increasing wholesale revenue helped Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter net income rise by more than half, the company said.
Greetings from sunny San Diego, where I'm covering the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) for sister publication eM+C. I know, San Diego in February, tough gig.
In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the ailing company alluded to a potential bankruptcy, saying its future was in "doubt" unless it could come up with some fresh financing.
Beauty care company Estรฉe Lauder is using digital technologies to enhance the customer experience at various points of sale, including iPads for consumer use. Estรฉe Lauder is "the first cosmetics brand to put iPads at selected store counters," said Fabrizio Freda, the company's president and CEO.
Despite record-breaking winter storms that turned a trip to the mall into an adventure travel expedition, Limited Brands and Zumiez achieved double-digit same-store sales increases of 24 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.
While the 2011 economic forecast may be looking sunnier, Mother Nature must have missed the memo. So much of the country has been blanketed in snow and ice the last several weeks, and nasty weather can have an interesting effect on retailers big and small, online and brick-and-mortar.
Bebe Stores reported a loss for its second quarter as bad weather cut into sales and closed some stores. The clothing company posted a loss of $2.7 million for the quarter compared with a profit of $2.4 million in the same period last year. Revenue fell 2 percent to $132.7 million for the period that ended Jan. 1.
Bernadette Clark used to visit Wal-Mart twice a week. Now it's twice a month. She got fed up last year when Wal-Mart stopped stocking some of her favorite brands and she couldn't count on low prices.
In a big post-Christmas surprise, January same-store sales were stronger than many retail analysts expected. Blizzards in the Northeast, which pummeled the area and even closed some stores, were expected to cause sour sales. Not so.