Word: season
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Last year was the worst Christmas in 40 years and we're tracking below that right now," says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting and investment banking firm.. "The whole [holiday season] will be determined by the last two days before Christmas...
However, department stores, such as Macy's, Dillard's, Bon-Ton Stores, JC Penney, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks, will likely be squeezed to bring in the biggest markdowns as these retailers typically rely on the holiday season to generate between 45% and 50% of their operating profits, says Karen Ghaffari, a managing director at Fitch Ratings...
Most retailers, anticipating a weaker holiday season, took steps to soften the potential blow by ordering less inventory, adding lower-priced merchandise to the mix, putting expansion plans on hold, shuttering weak stores, and purchasing items at better prices. As a result, most aren't under the gun to clear inventory with huge unplanned markdowns...
...have heard all season that people are only buying items that are on sale and we think people are still holding out to get the best deal possible," says Grannis. "There could be great deals, but they're not going to be the 70% [across the board sales] that they saw at this time last year...
...general, retailers that have focused on value, such as TJ Maxx, Kohl's Corp., Aeropostale, Children's Place, the Gap and Old Navy, have fared the best this holiday season and will likely resort to shallower discounts in the last two shopping days, says Jaffe. Best Buy, J. Crew and UrbanOutfitters have also performed well and are therefore unlikely to stray beyond planned promotions this week, he says...