Sears, Cosmetics and Craftsman tools a great combination

Today the Nation Retail Federation reported that Sears is going back into the mass and full service cosmetic business. This brings a few thing to light. So I was thinking how can a store that sells craftsman tools also service the cosmetic junky.

As the article stated during a time of recession( so are we in one) cosmetics is one industry that still does rather well. So Sears feels that right now this is where they should be. But analysts are stating that they tried it before and they couldn't get it right. As I read on, it stated that it was going to carry mass market lines like Cover Girl, Burts Bee's but yet there would be full service counters. I can't imagine getting a makeover from Cover Girl while my husband is wandering around in the tool department looking for the right size screwdriver. Unless of course they put the 2 departments right next to each other. How funny would that be, imagine this, makeup brushes right next to paint brushes. Need to paint a fine line, get an eyeliner brush, need good bronzing cover get a 2 inch sable paint brush , quick easy strokes. Can't get that eyeliner off after you smudged it, try a little paint thinner. Hey this could really work. If placement was done correctly their items per transaction really could increase. Sears has never been known to carry items that were trendy, they have been known for their tools and the sales staff waiting for you when you enter near the appliances. Now they will be waiting to whisk you away to the cosmetic counter for a free makeover. Craftsman tools, craftsman cosmetics, somehow there's got to be a good commercial in this. What I really want to know is exactly how much money they are going to spend to roll this out. Millions I am sure. And remember they own KMart too, are they next KMart cosmetologists?

This will be very interesting...

And a quote from a CEO, This is not the time for Miracle on 34th St.

In Mondays issue of WWD, this was the quote of the day:

"If we sold 10 of something in the old days, we would make 12 and count on reorders. Now if we sell 10, we make 8 and chase the business. I'd rather have missed a sale than have an unsold garment". Marty Staff, CEO of JA Apparel, on the "new normal"

Ok, let me break this down Marty, in the past you could count on buyers not ordering enough and then going back into market and ordering more, Correct? Did you forget the reorders were all at off price. Next ,Now if you get an order for 10, your only going to make 8, assuming (mmmm) that there will be at least 2 buyers canceling orders, Correct? But what if these buyers are actually smart enough to know how to buy, and all 10 keep their orders. Now you have to decide which 2 will not get their order, because in todays market, manufacturers are cutting to orders and that's that. I would not want to be you when a buyer calls and landblasts you about not getting there goods. And for your last statement, "you would rather lose a sale", YIKES A ROONIE, not a very glamorous statement, but what retailer in todays market can afford to lose a sale, or send a customer to another place (reference to Miracle on 34th St) I do not know too many out there that are willing to bet let's say your salary that any store out there can afford to lose a sale, let alone a customer.

As Donald Trump would eloquently put it "Marty your fired"

H&M magazine Autumn 2009 vs. All the others

This fall it's all about that .....well I don't know what exactly it's all about. The designs are everywhere, hats are in, the "it bag" is out, there are things called hairings (earings made of hair) good gracious what are we doing. We don't know and the magazines are trying to figure it out themselves. So this lead me to this blog. Long story short first, went to H&M Monday, bought a ponte knit dress(grey not black) for 34.95. $238 in Nordy's. Picked up their FREE magazine.

Tossed it in the bag and on my merry way I went.

Just took a peek at it when I got home, and then another and then another. I couldn't put it down. Fashion on every page, statements on every page, trends, stories, on every page. DO you know what wasn't on every page. Advertisements, for face creams, mascara, wrinkle creams, designers clothing that no one can afford and best of all no smelly perfume inserts.

So I decided to weigh H&M against the others to see where one would get the best bang for their buck this fall.

H&M

Front cover: I girl, 5 statements all readable

Table of contents, 3 pages in

Editors note page 9

First fashion article page 12

Last fashion article page 82

Pages in between 70 all fashion

Sections clearly labeled, all from Autumn trends, toTrends, Moscow Guide to Interviews

Interesting read, every page

Ripped corners because of postal delivery none, in a nice stand at the store

Photographs, beautiful,

Clothing all wearable

Prices of clothing to reflect the economy : right on target

COST: FREE!!!!!

The Other

Front Cover; Charleze again, 11 statements all running into each other

Table of contents: hang on still looking for it Ok page 146 (prior to that all advertisements) sorry part one of table of contents is on page 136

Editors note: give me another minute.. page 208 in between, advertisements

First fashion article: yeah, ok there isn't one, needless to say then there is not a last one

pages of advertisements, please do not make me count them, the mag. is 586 pages 83% is advertisements, please do the math.

Sections labeled clearly...Most of them

Interesting read: not unless you think a small blip on Katie Holmes new line is worthwhile (NOT)

Ripped corners because of the postal service pages 520 to 586

Photographs; Creative, very creative

Clothing wearable None

Prices of clothing to reflect the state of the economy, None and Anna promised this issue would be cost conscious for the consumer

Cost: By subscription it was 12 for the year, newsstand $4.99

You be the judge..but if I may save yourself some money and get the free one at H&M

The colors for fall

This is just a brief entry with more to come tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that if you are looking for anything other than, black, brown, deep crimson, shades of deep purples or greys

this fall/winter you will be very disappointed. Having worked the NEAC show New England Accessories and Clothing I can report first hand that their were aisles and aisles of these colors or should I say lack of. Now don't get me wrong because like Edna and Chanel, Black is my color, no matter what the little nit-wit sales associate told me last year. Sometimes one just needs a splash of something fabulous.

This fall it will come in the form of jewelry!

More to come........

Getting it right and what you should know!

I really didn't know what to title this entry, because I don't think the fashion industry knows how to explain it either.

This morning I was reading a 5 page article in WWD that interviewed quite a few industry personnel, including designers, owners, forecasters, analysts etc. They were all talking about how retail and the fashion industry will survive what they are calling a pre-recession. Let me start by saying they all gave up hope on the little guy. Encouraging isn't it. Most said they would focus on the vendors that they have worked with in the past for consistantcy . But this didn't work before, weren't those the vendors that they are claiming that they had to take big markdowns on because the consumer demanded a lower price. Do you know what this means don't you, that the stores are going to demand larger discounts from the manufacturer or more more markdown dollars. I know my buying students know what that means. Analysts mentioned that customers do to want to see the same thing from the year before and in order to get the non-buying consumer to buy retailers need to give them something new. There's a contradiction i all of this, retailers sticking with the steady eddies and consumers wanting something new! Who should win? You decide.

Anyway, the article continued to mention bringing in mdse closer to the season, it's called buying closer to the vest. Yeah, this is not happening as wool, cashmere and leather are already out in the stores and it's 90 degrees. But thats OK with me because by time I am ready to buy it will be at a price I want to pay.

The point of this article is because one person actually gets it, that Alan Schwartz. You may have heard of him , he is a designers and usually knocks off red carpet designs from the award shows and their in the store within a week. He said, he survives and will survive because 98% of his product is made here in the United States, Halaluia to that sister.

What does this means, US employees designing, manufacturing, shipping and selling in the US.

Fast design to store time, which means closer to the selling season. In turn less markdowns for him and the stores that carry his product. And a higher profit for all parties concerned.

Good for you Alan...now if just 50% followed suit, we'd have less unemployment, out jewelry and textile industry would be back in business.

Good for you!

Celebrities as Designers, Really now!

I decided to write this blog because I know once I head back to the classroom, someone is going to tell me that the best designer line comes from one of the celebrities that I am going to mention below. As you read this please think about it in this way "Do you see any one of these celebrites being the next Chanel, Yves St.Laurent, Dior, Jean Paul Gaulthier or even in todays standards of greatness Marc Jocobs.

So here's the list.. In not particular order of bad or bad.

Heidi Klum, paris and Nikki Hilton, Haden Panatere, Lauren Conrad, Nicole Ricci, Gwen Stephani, Jessica Simpson, JLo, Pamela Anderson, Elizabeth Hurly, Reba McIntyre, Christy Turlington, Elle McPherson, jaclyn Smith, Amanda Bynes, kane West, JayZ, Sean Combs, SnoopDOg, Nelly, Eminen, Justin T, Pharrell Williams, Rachel Zoe, Victoria Beckham, Beyonce, Bono, MaryKate and Ashley, Miley Cyrus and the newly announce Katie Holmes(hopefully Tom won't jump up and down over this)

So here's the list and quite honestly although they may be talented on stage, in the fitting room that I question. But I am not writing just about that, this is what I really want you to think about, think about all of the students who are trying so hard to pay their way through design school, who are working 2 to 3 jobs just to get through. Think about the ones who are not fortunate enough to go to school for lack of funding. Think about the students who do hours and hours of internships at famous design showrooms for free and are turned away once the commitment is done. Think about the graduates who go door to door looking for someone just to take a look at their portfolio, only be to be told they don't have a vision or get more experience. I want you to think about them everytime you see a new celebrity who has a ton of money, no education, no internships, so student loans decide because they are bored or because they want their name on something go out with their millions and decide they are a designer.

That is what I want you to think about.

I would rather buy a struggling designers goods than make a celebrity richer than they already are. And shame on the industry for allowing this. Shame on them for turning their backs on the world in which they came from. Shame Shame Shame.

September Issues: Fashion Magazines

Well the September issues are out and every editor is boasting on how well their issues look. Before you go out and spend 50$ let me give you a quick run down and a recommendation.

If you only had to buy one American magazine for couture fashion I would buy Harper's Bazaar. It was done extremely well, photo's are beautiful and has great content. For those of you who know me it pains me not to suggest Vogue as you know I love Anna. But I think this year she was too focused on looking good for her documentary rather than her magazine looking good. (The cover, not good) If your looking for a magazine that has more realistic style that has attainable fashion that many consumers can afford I would definitely buy "In Style" although the cover with Jennifer Lopez looks like a Christmas cover not a fall cover it has great products throughout. (This is a strong recommendation if your taking my buying class this fall)

Most AMerican magazines rely on advertisements and it definitely showed this fall, with Vogue getting over 75% of their content in advertisements. BTW, you will see all of these ads in every magazine you pick up. Speaking of ads if I may. I think the best fashion ads this fall come from a 67 year old women, her name Betsy Johnson, her ads this fall are fantastic, their fun, creative, loud and unique! Look at everyone elses, dark, scarey and the stick models are all distorted.

So your final cost on mags for Sept. should be less than 10dollars. And if you don't want to buy any, the log onto DailyFashion.com

Inventory levels just what I predicted

In early July WWD published a few articles stating that many retailers are cutting their inventory level and only buying what is necessary. July 7th, 2009 WWD posted this comment by Terry Lundgren. See first quote below. However, the industry seemed to forget what they promised, smaller inventories and merchandise closer to season. Haha. have you been into a store lately. There is no summer left and one is trying on cashmere sweaters, leather coats and wool boyfriend jackets (I still have mine in pristine condition form the 90')

It is 90 degreees here in New England and you can;t buy anything summer. I thought, well I hoped they would have learned. Apparently not. The second quote is what i published in a letter to WWD on the same day. Today, after receiving my WWD. they announced more stores are laying off, sales are down in some cases by over 30%. Surprised? Not at all.

Retail is not rocket science, although it is a science but mixed with art. And if they continue to force us in shoulder pads. Educationally they will get a D in science and an F in art.

"Many retailers seem resigned to the idea that the shipment faucet has been shut so firmly that they might even have to begin chasing merchandise. Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and ceo of Macy’s Inc., hinted at that possibility in an interview early this year.

“We will get our inventories down very tight,” he said. “We’ve all been scrambling to reduce orders. We will get to the point where we will be scrambling to increase orders. Inventories will be lean and that’s a good way to make money, a good way to raise margins and a good way to improve sell-throughs.”

It is amazing that it took retail stores so long to get to the position of having to realize that inventories are too high and mark downs are too steep. This was not the case in the late 70's when mdse actually did arrive just a few weeks prior to the season starting and not 4 months prior. What is happening in retail now is the result of one thing and one thing only. Greed. When stores were making a profit instead of putting that extra money in the bank they went ahead and opened more stores generally sharing the same demographic market. Without population increasing it was no surprise that same store sales started to decline. Therefore causing the trickling effect of what we see today in a grand scale. There is an easy answer to what companies are going through right now, and the key players have got to realize that a mistake was made and it needs to be fixed. If you want to stay alive in this business, follow these simple rules. 1. Stop being greedy, you do not need more stores, but better mdse in them 2. Hire, not for body's only, but associates that really want to be there 3. Train your sales staff, and yes this means follow through and finish the training, the heck with payroll hours, you'll make it up at the end 4. Decrease markdowns by not marking up so high in the first place. Imagine having the right mark-up and a customer actually buying something at full price within it's first few days on the sales floor. 5. Keep you store visually attractive. it only takes a minute for that young sales associate to come out from behind the desk and pick up something that is on the floor. A clean store means a better shopping experience for the customer 6. DMM's and GMM's control your checkbooks and your buyers. Sometimes less is better

Bathing suit beauties

Today, after 15 years truly I ventured to the beach. Being a fashion afficienado of course I had to look at what everyone was wearing. So here is my report on the wonderful and not so wonderful world of swimwear.

Lets start with the males. I must say to my approval there was not a man out there wearing speedo's , this is a wonderful thing and it should go without saying. the only one wearing a speedo should be Michael Phelps and men built like him which leaves out about 75% of the male population. Board shorts are in and the colors and designs were quite acceptable, most were floral prints, large magnolia's. Now in my day if a man wore flowers, well one can imagine.

The best thing about the board shorts and that they were actually pulled up and at navel level, thank goodness, I did not have to look at the lining of their boxers, which by the way many guys wear under these shorts. But kudo's the the males and their fashion sense.

Now on to my gender. Well there was a little of everything, and when I say a little I really mean a little. Even the life guards had itty, bitty, teenie weenie yellow and blue striped bikini's.

How I wondered would they stay up if they had to rescue someone, and what man would not want to be rescued by them.

Now on to the beach goddesses, yes you know who you are, a suit for everyday of the week..

Well for the most part neutral colors, browns, blacks, browns and black again. very few prints.

As far as the coverage, I guess only certain parts need not burn and well these suits did their job and no more. Kind of like a teenage sales associate who works at stops and shop.

Most had beautiful embellishments across the top and wonderful details. Even the young girl that had on a black suit with the brightly colored word ROXY across her behind looked acceptable.

the beach is a great place. No one is judgemental, at least not openly and anything and everything goes. Its a fashion mecca, of style, color, age and gender. Gosh even the umbrella's were high fashion.

So next time your at the beach look for me, I am the one wearing the brown or black suit in a crowd of 1000.

Customer service is more than ringing up a sale!

Today I was doing some consulting in a very pretty tourist area. The store that i am helping said they were in need of visual merchandising to help attract the customer and to gain interest in the product so that they could create multiple sales.

So today I ventured out with a plan of attack. I knew exactly what needed to be done to "create interest and sales" or so I thought. For the 3.5 hours that I was there merchandising the store, the sales associate on the floor( or should I say behind the cash wrap) didn't move. She stayed looking down ticketing merchandise. Not even acknowledging the customers when they walked in yet buy something. The young man that was on, opted to check in shipment in the back room with the door closed, the first time I went back to get his help to move a table he was out the back door, the next 2 times he was on his cell phone. Only once when asked did he come out to help move a table. But while out there never acknowledged a customer. I cannot say that I am surprised because this new generation in retail feels that ringing a customer is what they are supposed to do. That is their job, sales will just come and they will have hours to earn money, to buy new clothes, itunes, or any other trinket that is of value to them. What they don't realize and what their managers and owners better teach them is that if they don't get their pretty little faces out there to say hello, talk up the product and then ring it up, there will be no hours to buy all of the things that they want. But who do you blame, the kid or the manager/owner?

My answer....

The manager/owner.

Please don't complain if your business is failing if you are entrusting your money in the hands of an untrained teenager.

Thoughts....

Welcome to "Fashion is not for everyone"

Hi,

This blog is to inform all of you fashionista's out there on what is happening in the fashion and retail industry both good and bad.

This is a blog that will be as honest as it gets. No feelings are meant to be hurt, as long as one remembers that Fashion is a business it is not meant to be taken personally.

But I feel it is an obligation to let fashion and retailers know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. And unfortunately right now there is more wrong than right.

So let's get started, I hope you log on daily.

Melanie