THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504220332
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 187 lines
Tina Bailey adores the clothes but sometimes balks at the prices. Rose Lawson says today's fashions are for teenagers, not moms or middle-age women. And Amy Nguyen finds little on store racks and shelves that's beautiful or flattering.
These three Hampton Roads women might purchase a few items to spice up their old wardrobes. But for the most part, they aren't buying - a trend that has led to slumping sales, big markdowns and cutbacks at stores across the nation.
The women's apparel industry is in a funk, suffering one of its longest slumps in recent times. Almost everyone has been stung - from the ritziest boutique to the big department store; from the Seventh Avenue designers to the mass manufacturers.
A sluggish economy might have played a role in the early '90s, but several retail analysts and consultants say the industry shares the blame. They point to two rumblings in the market that were ignored: changes in women's lifestyles and an increasingly cutthroat environment that made discounters like Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney major players in fashion.
Menswear sales haven't declined as much as women's, possibly because men's clothing styles change very slowly, retail analysts said. On the other hand, women's fashion trends have changed so swiftly recently that they're giving retailers and customers whiplash.
Shop owners say they have a tough time advising customers on what will be fashionable during the next season. It once was obvious what colors, styles and skirt lengths were going to be in vogue, said Juanita Gardner, owner of the Clothes Closet in Virginia Beach. But she had little to tell her customers when she returned recently from a trip in Dallas, where she shopped for fall clothing.
``A few years ago, it was obvious what the colors and lengths were going to be,'' Gardner said. ``Now, I say there is no direction.''
From some retailers, casual clothing has been a savior. The trend has inched its way into companies that once enforced the stiffest dress codes. IBM, the computer giant whose employees wore the regimented Navy suit, recently relaxed its dress codes. Other businesses have introduced ``Casual Fridays,'' welcoming jeans into offices and boardrooms.
``This is what I wear these days,'' said Rose Lawson, pointing to her T-shirt and casual pants, while shopping last weekend at Military Circle Mall in Norfolk.
The 45-year-old retired saleswoman, says she doesn't dress up much. And when she does, she finds the styles too trendy for her tastes.
``They're more suitable for someone like my daughter,'' Lawson said. ``I'm a conservative dresser. I like to stick with the basics.''
It's women like Lawson - with more money to spend - who are rebelling at the new styles. They are demanding more casual and disciplined wear - not frou-frou clothing like baby-doll dresses, hot pants and teensy mini-skirts.
That's why Gardner was stunned when designers suddenly introduced skirts that went straight above the knee and kept on going up.
``Back a few years ago, when business was booming, women felt pretty and feminine in the clothing,'' Gardner said. ``Then, all of a sudden the designers lost it. They did the baggy look and then straight to skirts that almost hit your crotch.
``I was pleading with them, `Please give me some long skirts, because we can cut the skirt, but we can't lengthen them,' '' she said. ``I wasn't the only store screaming that. But they didn't listen.''
Lackluster spending on women's clothing probably isn't as significant to the industry's woes as market share shifts, said Ashley Nazemi, a retail analyst with Adams Harkness & Hill. Boutiques and chain stores face increasing competition from discounters like Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and J.C. Penney, because they can provide quality clothing that's fashionable and priced low, she said.
Is Wal-Mart fashionable?
You betcha, says Leon Hall, creative director for the Dallas International Apparel Mart. Hall, who staged a fall fashion show last month in Dallas, paused before the high fashion models sauntered onto the runway. In a staid voice, he talked about tough times for the people in the auditorium.
``I remember when we used to laugh at Wal-Mart and Kmart clothing,'' Hall said. ``Now, we don't. I now use Wal-Mart as a stamp of understanding. Fashion is everything from Wal-Mart to Neiman Marcus. It didn't used to be like that.
``Couture, as we know it, is dead.''
The buying power of Wal-Mart and other retail giants makes shop owners shiver. Manufacturers give large companies better deals because they order more. So Wal-Mart can buy 10,000 pairs of brand-name jeans and sell them for $20 each. A boutique owner who's buying 100 might have to sell the same denims for $25 each.
The decline in specialty apparel retailers is obvious. At Dallas' Apparel Mart, where buyers make deals with vendors hawking designer clothing lines, a common greeting was: ``How tough has it been for you?'''
Gardner, of the Clothes Closet, remembers when designers packed six floors of the Apparel Mart building and buyers crowded the halls and showrooms.
``At that time, you had to make reservations with the vendors or else you couldn't get in,'' she said. ``I didn't make a single reservation in the last three years. You could just walk into the rooms.''
``Things were great in the '80s,'' added retail consultant T.J. Reid. ``You could sit back in your chair and rake it in. The '90s are a different, more competitive world. You have to fight for your sales.''
Apparel retailers simply did not take Wal-Mart seriously enough, she said.
Reid's seminar, ``Competin' with the Biggies,'' was packed with shop owners trying to pump life into their businesses. They came from Louisiana, Missouri, Texas - any place where there's a Wal-Mart down the road.
The modern retailer, she told the audience, needs to toughen up. She suggested that retailers routinely shop the competition. If Wal-Mart offers $20 jeans, a boutique should beat that price and write it off as a loss, Reid said. The shop owner should try to make up the difference by selling exclusive, brightly colored shirts next to the denims, she said.
Shop owners also should study their customers before they start buying clothes. Do they want silk skirts or nylon skirts, fitted or loose jackets, moderate or upscale clothing?
``Now look at that!'' cried Reid, pointing across the hall to a designer's red and gray feathered coats. ``We all say, `oooh!' We all come to the market and think we're fashion mavens. But when you get on the plane, you're going to kick yourself - because you know none of your customers will buy it!''
There will always be room for those who want to introduce clothing like colorful feathered coats, patent-leather jackets and little-girl dresses - three styles that appeared at the Dallas fashion show. But the challenge facing more mainstream designers is whether the flair on the catwalks translates into purchases at the stores.
``The couture is always on the edge,'' said Linda Gannaway, a vice president in charge of ready-to-wear clothing at department store chain Proffitt's Inc. ``But the better end - they have to be more in line with what the average woman wants.''
While some retail analysts say women's apparel sales should continue to decline, more optimistic industry watchers contend that better days are on the horizon, mostly because retailers and designers have become more sensitive to shoppers' needs.
Analyst Ashley Nazemi is among the pessimists. She see no signs that sales will rise in the near future. Women, she said, appeared more likely to spend money on televisions and furniture last year than than their wardrobes.
Most major apparel retailers posted sagging same-store sales in March. Same-store sales dropped 2.5 percent at Federated Department Stores, declined 7 percent at The Gap and decreased 5 percent at The Limited.
``People have been saying that we've been in the doldrums so long that we have to have a rebound,'' Nazemi said. ``That's not necessarily a valid thesis. Last year, they were saying sales would rise, and last year was the worst.''
The slump appears epidemic. Off-pricers like T.J. Maxx are even struggling. One possible reason is that they can no longer prove they have the lowest prices when department stores continue to mark down clothing.
``Discount shopping used to be easy,''said Deborah Butts of Chesapeake, shopping at the T.J. Maxx close to her home. ``It's different now. A lot of times, the stock is lopsided and picked through . . . And you've got to look at the prices. You might find it somewhere else for less.''
There were a few retailers, however, that bucked the trend. Neiman Marcus saw its March same-store sales rise 4.5 percent, and Ann Taylor's dropped just 0.9 percent. Analysts said these companies have listened more closely to their customers, carrying quality sensible clothing with flattering fits and colors.
Listening to today's shoppers is more important than ever, said Margie Johnson of Virginia Beach-based Shop Talk. They are pickier and more demanding that yesterday's consumers, she said.
So if customers want a certain size or color that's not in the store, order it, Johnson said. If consumers want a specific design, find it. If they return the merchandise, take it back.
Why?
It costs five times more to lure a new customer than it does to retain an old one, Johnson said. She also cited a survey that showed 68 percent of customers leave because of indifference, rudeness or lack of service from employees. Most never complain.
Several designers and manufacturers appear to have gotten a reality check, said Kenneth M. Gassman Jr., a retail analyst with the Richmond brokerage Davenport & Co. They're beginning to introduce attractive, wearable clothing for the fall, he said.
``They are trying to make what people want rather than dictate what people should wear,'' Gassman said.
Indeed, after his new, sensible clothing line attracted less-than-rave reviews, one designer of better clothing reportedly shrugged and remarked, ``I'm not afraid to sell clothes.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
CAROLYN A. HERTER
Black plastic jackets were among the offerings at the Dallas Trend
Show last month.
Consumers demand casual wear
Retailers struggle to keep pace with fashion
Photo
CAROLYN A. HERTER
Consumers often eschew fancy clothes such as this feathered coat for
more casual and disciplined wear.
by CNB