Perkins’ Picks

This should come as no surprise considering the incredibly disappointing sales record that most Department Stores had to endure during the last sales quarter, but Department stores such as Barney’s will be stocking less product in what it hopes to lessen the probability of being stuck with too much product and not enough buyers.  This news comes on the heels of Henri Bendel announcing that they will no longer be selling clothing and will delve solely into cosmetics etc.

 Saks CEO, Stephen Sadove tells Bloomberg that “across the board you are going to find less of the sizes, less of the availability in almost all of the categories.”

Many department stores have already cut back on lines that don’t sell well and others like Ann Taylor have stop carrying Plus sized clothing entirely due to low sales numbers.  High-end retailers like Saks and Barney’s have shifted towards carrying more classic and streamlined looks that have more of a guarantee to sale.  Retailers are also now staying away from more ‘artististic’ looks and leaning toward the guaranteed sales.  As Christian Lacroix already knows clothing might be ‘art’ but it may not be necessarily profitable.