What do you do with winter outerwear overstock?

Q: Winter weather didn’t really come to my area, and now I am left with more winter goods than usual. What should I do to get rid of them?

A: Since winter didn’t really hit in a lot of areas this season, there a number of retailers facing this problem. You have a few choices — you can store and carry over the merchandise, further mark it down, or just throw/give it away.

If you have goods that will hold until fall, such as heavy scarves, safely store them and remember to reduce your fall on-order. If they are goods that won’t really work for next season due to the color and fabrication, my advice is to mark them down further and see if you can clear them that way. The good news is since most merchants have much lower inventory levels than before the recession, you shouldn’t be left with too much carryover.