WHAT RETAILERS WANT!

After a high-energy, jam-packed Chicago Collective, we caught up with retailers to ascertain how they’re planning and what they’re bringing in that’s new and exciting for fall 2024. It seems about 70 percent of stores are planning flat, worried about the distractions of an election year. About 15 percent are planning up, and another 15 percent are planning down. Here’s what they’re buying.

Craig DeLongy, John Craig stores, Florida

We’re very bullish for fall 2024. Our level of product, clientele and the incredible locations we have in Florida leaves us to believe that our growth will continue through the end of the year. Steve Pruitt with Blacks has us up an average 3 percent, but I think that’s conservative. Our staff is as good as it’s ever been, with a few new additions.

We’ll continue to support our present brands, particularly those who support our magazine. Our vendor partners have been great; Ralph Lauren has gone over the top to support us, more than one would think.
We continue to look for leather goods and other add-on items. Our footwear vendors, Dibianco and Magnanni, keep bringing great product to the marketplace. Our clothing brands, from Jack Victor to Sartorio, are showing beautiful fabrics and new models at their respective price points. Sportswear looks in shackets and soft jackets are still strong as layering items.
Outerwear for Florida can be tough, but Manto has unique items that make people want to wear them. Weight is not a detriment. Casual trousers are showing in new fabrications from Pescarolo, Hiltl, and Brax.

Ken Shaia, Shaia’s, Birmingham, Alabama

We’re planning down due to the election year, but we’re very optimistic for the future. For 30 years, we’ve been driven by 50% sportswear sales. We’re thrilled that men are ready to dress up again, getting back to the office but leaving their quarter zips in the closet.

Johnell Garmany, Garmany, Red Bank, New Jersey

We’re planning flat but expect an increase due to the continued strength of the luxury market. (The mid-market has slowed.) We see a definite shift in bottoms to more relaxed models and pleated styles. We’re buying more patterned sweaters, knits, and overcoats. We’re looking for evolutions of the workshirt.

Dan Farrington, Mitchells Stores

We’re planning flat but hoping for increases. The strong growth we had post-Covid has slowed to single-digit gains. We’ve been buying aggressively for several seasons and will now align to the reality of recent sales.
We’re most bullish on soft sport coats, also overshirts and vests. Luxury leads and dominates our sales volume, but we’re finding more opportunity to grow the middle market with new items from new brands.

Ken Giddon, Rothmans, New York, New York

We’re planning up low single digits with increases in sport coats, chunky sweaters, very soft jackets, and event-driven clothing.

Greg Reilly, Darien Sport Shop, Darien, Connecticut

We’re planning flat but will adjust as needed. A key item will be shirt jackets, taking the place of much quilted outerwear. (Rye 51 showed some great shirtjacs with related bottoms.) We also love the soft sport coats that are less constructed and more reasonably priced.

Murry Penner, M. Penner, Houston, Texas

We’re planning flat: down in tailored and up in sportswear. We’re delighted with all the lighter weight fabrics, finally! This should make it easier to promote layering here in Houston. We’re making many changes in our moderate sportswear: substituting brands that are unique and less widely distributed for those that are in every gas station and not profitable.
In luxury, we’ve missed some opportunities to expand on what our customers were already buying so we’ll focus on that. But we’ve learned that the same customer who buys luxury might also want easy-care casual clothes for weekend errands. We’re excited to bring new, cool, moderately-priced brands into our mix while expanding our collection in luxury.

John Coffman, Coffmans, Greenville, North Carolina

We’re planning most classifications flat, but I will be ecstatic if we can beat 2023 numbers. Our new focus will be in cool overshirts, new models in sweaters, and lighter weight outerwear.

Jim Foley, Woodbury Mens Shop, Woodbury, New York

We’re planning another strong year based on continued growth in luxury. We’re going deeper with our proven brands (Fedeli, Fiorini, Baldassari, Luciano Barbera, Paul&Shark) and will expand upon accessories (exotic leather belts from LEN, scarves from Piacenza), and Rubriosa sneakers, all to wear with their five-pockets, still our biggest category.

Jose Bolado, J.Bolado Clothiers, Coral Gables, Florida

Fall is a short season for us and many of the offerings are too heavy (or look too heavy). That said, Coppely has some nice sport coats: we bring in a few dark colors so the store looks like fall but we’re careful not to buy too much.
That said, we’re planning fall up a little since business is good right now. We like the linen blend trousers from Scabal and Jack Victor, five pockets from MAC and Brax (great colors!), polos from Sunspell, and lightweight outerwear from Gimo’s. We shift our vendor mix often these days: once a brand is over-distributed, we move on to something else.