Retail Survival on the Agenda at Market Tuesdays Seminar

The state of retail is changing, and veterans of the business gave survival tips and forecasts for the upcoming year at the “2010 Industry Predictions for Retailing” seminar, produced by the California Fashion Association at the California Market Center.

The Feb. 9 event was the first in a series of Market Tuesdays seminars to be held at the CMC.

CFA President Ilse Metchek moderated the hour-long panel, where experts discussed credit, retail technology and how to get customers into stores. Panelists included Stella Campbell, owner of Sugar Stores, a specialty retailer with two locations in Los Angeles County; Bruce Campbell, owner of Los Angeles–based Black Retail Consulting and husband of Stella Campbell; Gene Schwartz, senior vice president of commercial lender CIT Group; and Chester Ritchie, senior vice president of retail technology company CAM Commerce Solutions, based in Fountain Valley, Calif.

Metchek opened the seminar with an overview of the current state of retail and the trends shaping it. Retailers made more money in January 2010 than January 2009, she said, comparing various retailers’ same-store sales, one of the most common measures of a company’s sales performance. “But are things getting better?” she asked. “Not so fast.”

Many businesses are still learning how to navigate the rapidly changing world of retail. Retailers must appeal to a market that is increasingly segmented into smaller demographic groups, as well as a market increasingly driven by micro-trends, not larger trends that dominate a single season. Margins of error are becoming increasingly small, she said, and it is increasingly crucial for manufacturers and retailers to form partnerships to survive a tough market.

While CIT’s Schwartz acknowledged that credit remains an issue for many, he said factors are not demanding impossibly high performances from retailers seeking credit. In fact, factors are willing to bet on new people. “It is the future of the business,” he said.

Retailers must also take risks on new designers, Sugar’s Stella Campbell advised. “You’ve got to trigger a reason for customers to come to the store,” she said. However, boutiques cannot hold merchandise that does not sell out of the store within two weeks. Stores need to form strong partnerships with manufacturers that will sometimes take back merchandise that is not selling.

Point-of-sale software can help retailers market fashions to the appropriate customer, CAM’s Ritchie said. POS programs typically track what styles of inventory are in a store and who bought the merchandise. With this marketing information, retailers can target upcoming merchandise to specific consumers.—Andrew Asch