Holiday Target: Men (Week 1)

Counting on Guys to Buy
Retailers hope fashion sales to men will salvage the troubled holiday season
November 29, 2008
Ray A. Smith

Article Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122790986698265333.html

This article reported that retailers are counting on men to keep sales up this holiday season. In an effort to cater to men, stores have expanded, remodeled, and added new products to their men's departments. This strategy of switching the focus to men is based on data provided by MasterCard SpendingPlus, a service that tracks all spending no matter the payment type (i.e. credit card, cash, debit, etc.). The most important statistic reported by MasterCard SpendingPlus states, "For the first nine months of the difficult retail-calendar year that began Feb. 3, sales of men's apparel have risen 1% to $4.3 billion from year-earlier levels . . . " Sales of women's apparel have decreased 6 percent.

I understand that consumers are cutting back on spending and retailers are doing all they can to alleviate these losses. However, remodels, expansions, and new products seem pretty drastic for only a 1 percent increase. The cost of these changes most likely will not be covered by profits from the men's department.

Obviously retailers have conducted more research than me and have constructed a business plan that supports this idea--but the data presented in this article would not convince me to make such severe changes in business just before the holiday season.

On a more personal note--None of the men I know enjoy shopping. They can't be relied upon to shop during great economic times, let alone during our current economic crisis. I am blown away that retailers are putting this much faith in men . . . and their ability to shop.