Keep the Discounts Coming
The year 2008 will be remembered as a boom period for the off-price market, said Peter J. Hayes, chief operating officer and chief merchandising officer of Variety Wholesalers Inc., based in Henderson, N.C.
He forecasted the off-price market would continue to grow during economic tough times. “It will only be getting better,” Hayes said. “We’ll have to continue providing better value.”
Hayes was honored with the “Man of the Year” award by the Off-Price Apparel Association, a charitable group associated with the Off-Price Specialist Show, a trade show in Las Vegas held this Aug. 23–26 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
The award honored Hayes’ more than 40 years working in retail and for his philanthropy. Hayes helped raise more than $123,000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.; $61,000 for The Doreen Grace Fund & The Brain Center in Mashpee, Mass.; and $61,000 for the Hospice of Wake County in Raleigh, N.C. The funds were awarded at the “Man of the Year” event.
Business also was on the minds of the 400 off-price retailers at the event. Hayes said the quality of off-price products has been improving over the years, and a deal-hungry public will increasingly seek out off-price retailers. He forecasted that off-price merchants would find themselves competing more with mass retailers.
Variety Wholesalers owns more than 446 stores in the South, which operate under names that include Maxway, Eagle Stores, Roses and Value Mart. —Andrew Asch
