February Sales Pick Up, March Slumps

Retail consultant Steve Pruitt tracks monthly apparel sales trends. Here, he comments on February and makes some predictions for March.

As you can see from the trends, February sales showed a slight improvement over January, when menswear was down 24% and women’s was down 34% compared to the previous year. Sportswear was the clear driver, in part because it offers lower price points than clothing. Clothing and furnishings are still down, indicating that even job seekers are holding off from refreshing their professional wardrobes. The fact that women’s wear made a comeback from the previous month shows that women are less hesitant than men to shop in the current climate.

While February offered retailers some relief, it appears that March has brought another slowdown, partially due to the fact that spring weather has not yet arrived in many areas. Once the weather brightens up, we hope to see a pickup in spring sales. We expect sportswear to continue to outperform clothing and furnishings in coming months.

Steve Pruitt is founder and Senior Consultant of Blacks Retail Analysis and Blacks Consulting. Read his expert advice in our Ask The Experts section online.

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