Mercury drop spurs retail sales

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 30, ISSUE 46, JAN. 29, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.
Subscribe now and receive all the latest news, either in print or electronically. Just $150 a year for 48 issues! Sandy Parker Reports, 21219 Lago Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33433; Tel: (561) 477-3764; Fax: (561) 862-7052; SParker@SandyParker.com; www.sandyparker.com
International Fur News
with Sandy Parker
Mercury drop spurs retail sales
FUR RETAILERS IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD WERE EXPERIENCING A PICKUP IN ACTIVITY LAST WEEK as a direct result of a temperature drop and were hoping the latest cold snap would last considerably longer than those previously. But while the sales improvement was a welcome development, it was not generally expected to make up for business lost in the first three weeks of one of the most important selling months of the year. However, the pickup kindled expectations that January would not turn out as disappointingly as December, when mostly mild temperatures around the world put a damper on the sales of virtually all cold-weather merchandise and services.
This fall-winter season, more than most, has driven home just how weather-sensitive fur apparel – particularly long coats – has become and is giving new meaning to the term ‘global warming’ for the fur trade. As important as furs have become in the overall fashion picture, the ability to wear them comfortably evidently is an overriding factor at the point of sale. Although this has always been true as far as winter selling is concerned, the situation has become more critical as consumers increasingly plan their purchases closer to the time of actual need.
THE CHINA FUR & LEATHER PRODUCTS FAIR CONTINUES TO GROW IN SIZE AND INTEREST and may now be the largest of all the international fur shows in terms of square-footage and number of exhibitors. This would be in line with China’s rapid growth as a fur manufacturing and consuming nation. The recent event in Beijing drew an attendance of 13,770, including a greater number of visitors from the West, including both North America and Europe. This was about the same as last year. There also were 328 exhibitors, versus 284 last year, and the nearly 300,000 square feet of space was two-thirds larger than last year.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Mercury Drop Spurs Retail Sales
Pickup Is Felt Worldwide…
…but Peak-Time Sales were Lost
Skin Prices May Be Affected
Beijing Fair Viewed as Biggest
For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Index. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.
-
For further information contact Fur Commission USA.
Home
© 1998-2011 Fur Commission USA