Christmas in July?

Q: I’ve noticed that mass-market retailers are moving up the seasons to try to capture early sales. For example, K-Mart began selling Christmas goods in July. Should I be moving up my seasonal inventory as well?

A: Actually, you should be doing the opposite. The apparel market is starting to mirror the calendar year to reflect consumers’ “Buy Now, Wear Now” attitude. Designers are also beginning to support this change because they prefer to sell seasonal goods in-season and at full price.

Christmas in July may have sounded like a good idea at the time, but I think we’ll see that it was a recession anomaly and not a winning strategy.

Date answered: 08/20/2009
Question raised by: jim