Business Better at Fashion Market Northern California
SAN MATEO, CALIF.—At Fashion Market Northern California, many of the trade show’s vendors said the economy is improving but by baby steps.
Vendor space was sold out at the show, which ran June 26–29 at the San Mateo County Event Center in San Mateo, Calif., which is 20 miles south of San Francisco. More than 166 vendors showed contemporary and misses brands at the regional trade event, which runs five times annually.
Also, buyer traffic was reportedly up, especially with boutiques from the Pacific Northwest. Many vendors said their sales were superior compared with the Fashion Market Northern California’s June show in 2009.
However, many retailers were still playing it safe at the most recent show because of concerns over a slow economic recovery, said Fred Wells, owner of Los Angeles–based showroom Wells Apparel Group.
“The economy is like a freight train,” Wells said. “It is on the right track, but it’s not moving as fast as we’d like.”
Wells’ assessment echoed the sales performance of many retailers across the United States. The International Council of Shopping Centers noted that retail sales for the week ending June 26 increased 2.1 percent compared with the previous week. Warmer weather drove increased demand for fashion. However, the recovery has been uneven, and many specialty retailers reported sales declines in May.
The halting nature of the recovery affected many retailers’ budgets, said Don Reichman of Los Angeles–based showroom Reichman Associates. “It’s slower than we’d thought it would be. But we are opening new accounts,” he said. Some retailers were bullish and making $20,000 orders, according to Reichman.
More than 40 percent of retailers were taking orders for Immediate deliveries, said Lynne Andresevic of the Crayola Sisters showroom, which maintains offices in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. Immediates deliveries typically arrive in stores a month or two after the initial ordering. They are made by retailers who do not want to take a risk on fashions that will not arrive in stores until five to six months later. Andresevic also noted many boutiques wanted deliveries that were faster than Immediate.
“People are saying, ’What do you have hanging?’” Andresevic said of stock in her showroom. “It shows that they have not been buying enough.”
Many boutiques shopping the show have more than two decades of business and service behind them. The Meyer-Bunje boutique has been serving Burlingame, Calif., since the mid-1980s. The Hat Company of Santa Cruz and Dark Garden of San Francisco also have been doing business for more than 20 years.
Other boutiques shopping the show were Cotton Party of Chico, Calif., and a growing delegation of Oregon shops, including The Arrangement and Coco Gets Dressed, both of Portland, Ore., and Bonjour Boutique of Florence, Ore.
Niche retailers offering accessories and gifts reported doing good business during a year of a choppy economic recovery. Maria Sentry owns The Hat Company of Santa Cruz, located in Santa Cruz, Calif. She forecast her 2010 sales could be better than her shop’s 2008 sales, before the national economy declined. She credited her store’s recovery to doing business in a town filled with tourist traffic and selling fun accessories that are relatively inexpensive. “After the crash, people still wanted to buy something,” Sentry said. “They wanted to buy something and feel good about themselves.”
Items selling well at her store included men’s fedoras and women’s sun-protective hats.
For Reneacute;e Cohen of Los Angeles–based Reneacute;e Cohen Sales, the key words to drive business were novelty, price and tops. “People are much more price-conscious up here,” she said. “Sales were item-driven. And we are selling a lot of tops.” She forecast her sales would increase more than 30 percent compared with the same market in 2009. She said the comparison was easy. “Business was terrible last year,” she said.
The next Fashion Market Northern California is scheduled for Aug. 28–30.
