Post-Christmas ReportShopping FrenzyAt Lukewarm Levels

Just checking in with a quick update on the inevitable After-Christmas sales.
The bad news is that if you waited until after Christmas for the After-Christmas sales you will discover that for the most part, they started before Christmas, in many cases sometime last week.
You can hardly be blamed for waiting until the normal time for things to start, but this season, all rule books have been discarded. It's every retailer for itself out there, and in the case of Saks, who jumped the gun and marked down deeply way ahead of schedule (and forcing competitors to follow suit), there's not much left to be sold at what is now an extra 60% off already reduced prices. This sale brings some merchandise to something like 85% off the original price, which is essentially unheard of without an employee discount. That would be fabulous... if the store weren't so well picked over by now. Compare today's crowd, pictured above, with the throngs seen from the same view from last year and the year before, pictured below :

(click all images for a larger view in a new window)
There's no comparison.
Either customers know that the best stuff is gone, or they simply aren't shopping at all right now, or, more likely, a little bit of both.
Ditto the scene at Bergdorf Goodman (pictured at right) which was also relatively relaxed.
Most of the women's apparel there was marked down to 75% off in the price tags. Bergdorf's generally eschews "take an extra percentage off" promotion, and instead goes for the hard, permanent price change. 75% is a bit higher than they usually go for a final markdown, and it usually doesn't happen there until sometime in January. There is a little more left there than at Saks, but by and large the store is full of fresh Resort and Early Spring collections. The piles of sale handbags covering the counters there a few weeks ago are now gone gone gone.
Over at Bergdorf Men's, the markdowns are hovering around 60% for sale goods, which is actually a little less than their usual second price change. Perhaps they are seeing how much they can sell before an unusual third markdown next month, or maybe stores didn't actually need to slash prices as drastically as they did.
More of the same is found at Barneys, most sale merchandise is down to around 75% off.
Is it worth going out? That's up to you, dear shoppers. This is New York, so there is always going to be something left for you to buy. The advantage is that crowds are down, so you will likely be spared the traditional pushing & shoving.
As for us, we are about to retuen to our normal Holiday schedule of Important TV Watching.

Comments

[Pastry Handbags]

But what about this January? Does that mean that they won't cut price as much as before??