HOW WORRIED ARE RETAILERS ABOUT A SALES SLOWDOWN? PART ONE

According to an MR survey conducted on March 31, 2025, retailers’ response on the “worry meter” is about 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 = most worried). Here, a random sampling of independent merchants (about 40 percent willing to speak on the record) share some thoughts on how the stock market slide and tariff uncertainty are impacting their menswear sales.

Murry Penner, M.Penner, Houston, TX
Yes, recent sales have indicated a slowdown in consumer spending; my degree of worry is about 5 out of 10. What I’m doing about it: calling customers directly and increasing social media and email outreach.

As for raising prices, I will do this only if my prices go up. I don’t expect this to happen in any notable way unless our president goes nuclear in Western Europe. How much of an increase I would pass on to customers will be an item-by-item decision.

As for bright spots in the business now, MTM is showing huge growth; everything else is flat. The customer mood is mostly positive.

Andy Mallor, Andrew Davis Clothiers, Bloomington, IN
We’ve not seen any slowdown in men’s. In fact, we had a record March and a record year-to-date after our historically best year ever in 2024.

Still, I’m about a 7 on the worry scale: I worry about both the current stock market slump, and the impact tariffs will have on consumer prices, especially automobiles and homebuilding. Although we haven’t initiated any new measures, we continue to have a robust and successful event schedule. This keeps us connected with clients, even if they can’t make the event.

As for prices, yes I will raise them if there’s an increase at the wholesale level. Bright spots? The past few seasons we’ve seen a big increase in ‘shackets’, so we’re now tracking them with our inventory planner. We’re count-and-fill with Pescorolo on the models they stock. Collegiate looks and made-to-measure clothing have also been strong.

David Rubenstein, Rubenstein’s, New Orleans, LA
Our business is up, but we’re not an accurate barometer of national sales. We have a big dependency on fun events (Super Bowl, Jazz Fest, etc). What I do see is that the financially comfortable customer does not seem worried, and still enjoys being able to spend the money he’s earned. He’s not worried about a financial crisis, or about Israel. Putin is a problem that won’t affect him.

That said, clothing buying in America will likely be slower at the mid-to-lower income level, especially online. Tennis shoes could also slow down: how much do guys really need that fifth pair of new shoes this year? Also, seasonal wholesale orders will likely shrink as retailers learn that manufacturers will have leftover production that retailers can call in if needed.

Men’s and Women’s Retailer, Hartford, CT
We are in a Democrat state; the slowdown happened as soon as Trump won the election.

Among the changes I made: Less made-to-measure. It’s expensive and time-consuming. I’m trying to make people feel like they can afford to shop.
I’m not making a big deal about tariffs, moving that conversation off the table.
As always, I’m using my store to do fundraising events. Plus, I’m dropping non-performing brands even if certain customers like them. I can’t sit on dead brands.

Unfortunately, I have no bright spots to report. Last year’s bright spots are now dull bulbs. I’ll keep pushing for fresh product and keep hoping for happier times! That said, I WILL NOT LIVE IN FEAR!

Men’s and women’s retailer, Philadelphia, PA
We’ve had a very good month in men’s, not so good in women’s. Although I’m too old to worry about business, I must admit some short-term concern. That said, I’m optimistic that everything will be fine mid-term and long-term. We’re not doing anything out of the ordinary to jumpstart sales, just our planned marketing initiatives that are tied to launching a new season. We will raise prices only where we have to, and will try to hold prices as best we can. As said, we’ve had pretty strong men’s numbers, particularly in tailored clothing. We’ve also had quite a few large transactions, which makes a big difference.

Men’s and Women’s Retailer, Minneapolis, MN
We’ve seen no slowdown for the first quarter. The last few days have been slower, but the weather has been bad as well, so we don’t want to jump to conclusions. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say I’m a 3 or 4 on the worry scale at this time.

We are not reacting yet to a possible sales slowdown. We can’t jumpstart anything until we see exactly which merchandise is hit, how hard, and how our client base reacts. If they get scared and pull back, we’ll reduce future buys. If sales drop deeply, we will reduce staff and budgets accordingly, with an eye on making it through to the other side.

Will we raise prices when tariffs are imposed? Only if our vendors raise prices and only at that time. We’ve always set prices based on vendor requirements.
As for bright spots in the business: Our women’s business is growing nicely and our men’s is on plan as of now. We hired a fulltime social media manager about 9 months ago and that has helped drive traffic. We also updated our website to reflect the continued need for “less is more” verbiage – people have seconds not minutes to read ads today. We continue to have scores of activations in our store, which is great!

How Worried are Retailers Part 2 will appear in tomorrow’s MR Daily Newsflash.