A Nordstrom employee fixes a floral dress on a mannequin in one of the retailer’s department stores.
Ben Nelms | Bloomberg | ຮູບພາບ Getty
Out with sweatpants, in with blazers, lipstick and eye-popping prints on dresses.
Americans are sprucing up their wardrobes and spending more on dressier clothing, makeup and accessories as they start going out more and venturing back to offices. The trend is particularly pronounced among higher-income shoppers who are eager to splurge on such items again, even amid soaring inflation and an uncertain economy, analysts and company executives say.
“The masks are coming off,” said Macy's Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette after the company boosted its profit outlook and stood by its sales guidance for the year on Thursday.
The sentiment was echoed by a string of other retailers reporting quarterly results this week, including makeup-and-beauty products chain Ulta Beauty and Anthropologie-parent company Urban Outfitters. People are paying to look their best as they leave the house again, they said.
The latest round of results offer a more nuanced look at the economy after two of the biggest retailers — Walmart ແລະ ເປົ້າຫມາຍ — sent shock waves across the market with downbeat forecasts and warnings that some shoppers are becoming more price sensitive amid decades-high inflation.
Rising prices for food and gas are pinching lower-income Americans who are pulling back on spending, executives say. But so far, even the threat of a possible recession isn’t stopping higher-income consumers from spending on items they missed during the earlier days of the pandemic.
‘Head-to-toe color suits’
“The luxury customer is back in a big way,” he said in a phone interview.
But Gennette noted that shoppers who make less than $75,000 a year are seeking out more discounts.
Kimbell said makeup is seen as an affordable indulgence even when people are on tighter budgets. Clothing retailer ສະແດງ is also benefitting from people’s eagerness to get out and dress up again, with same-store sales up 31% in the quarter.
“One of the major fashion trends in women’s right now is head-to-toe color suits,” Express CEO Tim Baxter said in a phone interview. “We haven’t been in that kind of a fashion cycle in a long time.”
Choppy environment for some
Abercrombie & Fitch ຍັງໄດ້ກ່າວວ່າ inventory was up 45% in its fiscal first quarter from a year ago and cut its sales forecast for the year. And Gap’s first-quarter sales fell, dragged down by Old Navy.
“Last year, we won big with active and fleece, and kids and baby, which is our sweet spot for Old Navy,” Gap CEO Sonia Syngal said in a phone interview. She said the return of weddings, special occasions and office life is now pressuring those categories.
Gap’s inventory was up 34% in the period, and the company slashed its profit guidance for 2022. Only its Banana Republic chain, which caters to a higher-income customer, reported a bump in same-store sales.
At an Old Navy store Syngal recently visited where the average income in the area is about $100,000, she said shopper behavior hasn’t changed much. But at another location where the average income in the area was about $50,000, she said the financial pressures are clear.
“There’s much more focus on value for money,” she said, adding that people aren’t coming in as often either.
Stacey Widlitz, president of retail consulting firm SW Retail Advisors, said the mixed results across the industry reflect how the economy is affecting people as they emerge from the pandemic.
“It’s a shift in spending. It’s a behavior shift. And it’s hitting different companies differently,” she said.
—CCBC Melissa Repko ປະກອບສ່ວນເຂົ້າໃນການລາຍງານນີ້.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/27/as-americans-splurge-on-dressing-up-again-retailers-like-macys-and-ulta-benefit.html