This Was a Very Good Season to Be in the Fur Business, Retailers Agree

All the planets aligned in favor of the fur trade for the fall and winter of 2003-04, and this business, subject to more outside influences than most, cruised through a bountiful season.

The weather was cold in most major markets. In fact in some, the bitter cold just never seemed to end. The economy has bounced back quite strongly, and thanks to the enthusiasm and creativity of major designers around the world, fur fashions continued to get highly favorable exposure in newspapers, magazines and on television. That fired an interest in fur among women and men in lower income categories and the result was a solid crossover to the mainstream, which benefited traditional fur retailers and the new retailer recruits.

Chicagoland has always been a major fur market and the experience of upscale York Furs, one of its most successful retailers, is a case in point.

Between what he calls "A typical Chicago winter" - not much snow but constant bitter cold - and the exciting changes in fur fashions, John Reszny of York says the just concluded season was a real winner.

Two years ago John and his wife, Kathy, spent a great deal of money to convert the 73-year-old family business in the well-to-do suburb of Elmhurst to "... the very model of a 21st century fur and upscale outerwear center," and the investment has succeeded beyond expectations in expanding York's customer base.

A Welcoming Atmosphere

"When the customer walks in they find a welcoming atmosphere," Reszny explained. "A pleasant level of light, soft music, new carpeting, built-in cherry wood display areas, great modern furniture and large plasma screens showing current fashion trends. But most of all, they are made welcome by all hands.

"That last feature is crucial," he added, "because the changed nature of fur and shearling fashions has brought in a lot of first time buyers, and they find nothing intimidating when they enter York. We have seen increasing numbers of 25 to 30-year-olds who come in with a good fashion sense and a knowledge of what is happening. They are obviously accepting of the whole world of fur. In fact they display an exuberance most of the time, and we have bought and stocked for them."

Light and Sporty

Lightweight and sporty pieces that are obviously trans seasonal have been big sellers for York, and the well defined area devoted to fur and leather accessories has excited shoppers and proven to be a solid profit center.

"Some young shoppers content themselves with just a purchase from there," Reszny explained, "but a surprising amount of the time someone who purchased a fur or shearling garment will choose gloves or a scarf, perhaps a hat or purse to match it."

Reszny said that shearlings have also come to be a major segment of his business, though he carries nothing promotional in that category.

"We have done very well with the Christia Collection from Italy, and the fashion forward creations of Canada's Dominic Bellissimo. Designers such as those have completely integrated shearling in to the fur family, and many pieces are trimmed with mink, fox or sable."

Logging the Crossover

When it comes to gauging the crossover of fur into mainstream retailing, few are better qualified than Gary Fritschi, the veteran outerwear buyer for New York's Doneger Group, which is the sole remaining buying office for retailers large and small.

"In the third quarter of 2004 a record number of retailers will be opening up with displays of fur garments and accessories to catch a very strong wave of popularity," says Fritschi.

"We had to run like heck to keep up with the demand this past season, finding new sources and getting some old ones to increase their output," he said, "and all the indications are that the demand will increase rather than taper off."

Fritschi and his team are actually an extension of their retailer customers, and he says the demands of the just concluded season turned out to be unique.

"Some of the stores have leased fur salons, but we were finding fur garments and accessories for sale in mainstream departments, which a lot of retailers have found to be quite profitable.

Very Much in Vogue

"Fur is in fashion, it is very much in vogue, and the diversity of product has proven to be amazing," Fritschi said. "Of course it is omnipresent as trim on outerwear for men and women, with mink, fox, rabbit, squirrel, coyote, even sable showing up on leather and fabric garments for men and women. People are buying fur, wearing it or carrying it, and have discovered that it looks good and it feels good. And that is apart from the fact that much of the nation has had two very cold winters in a row, and fur is the best thing to keep a body warm.

"The categories I am talking about, fashionable fur novelties, will almost certainly see double digit growth this coming season," Fritschi averred.

Fritschi says Rex Rabbit has been the unsung hero of the boom.

"It is a by-product of the food chain in its source countries," he noted, "and it is incredibly versatile. It can be knitted with fox, we have sold it as reversible sportswear, it is used as is for boleros, capes or shrugs. It can be sheared, grooved, dyed, turned in to great accessories such as hats, gloves, bags or scarves."

Fritschi and his team have contributed to the fur accessory departments that have sprung up in many stores, displaying items such as the rex rabbit, which have literally exploded off the shelves.

"We have found new vendors with excellent product and some long-time suppliers who were not doing very much, are now doing a great deal more to meet the demand," Fritschi said.

The Doneger office also buys its share of regular or classic furs, and Fritschi says reports that full-length, long-haired mink or beaver coats have gone the way of high button shoes are just not true, and there has been no diminution of demand.

That is a view echoed by Richard Swartz, proprietor of Mano Swartz in Baltimore, a busy, on-trend retailer which has also served the Washington D.C. area during its 100 years.

"Fur was a strong seller in every category," Swartz said. "The long-haired, full-length mink and beaver coats had plenty of takers, but the smaller, lighter coats and jackets have been exceptional. We have seen a constant stream of younger, highly fashion conscious men and women, and they kept us on our toes, meeting their fashion requests and keeping an in-stock position. Accessories also appeal greatly to them, and we established a system for showing and selling those in day spas."

Swartz said the shearling market also proved to be great this past season.

"We carry the high-end, exquisite Italian made Christia shearlings," he explained, "and they have proven to be a real winner. They are light, highly fashionable, and can be worn for several months of the year, night or day."

He says the store's website, manoswartz.com, also proved itself as a great comparison shopping tool.

Detroit has always been a great fur market because of its extreme weather and hard working population who regard a full-length mink as a sign that the family has arrived, and the last two very cold seasons proved that nothing has changed.

"We've all heard it said that long-haired, full-length coats are history," said Cindy Danton, administrative manager of Dittrich Furs, which has a store in the city and another in the upscale suburb of Bloomfield Hills. "That is just not true. The sales level for those is pretty much unchanged."

Danton said that another very strong category is shearling, both in full-length coats and in shorter coats and jackets, and many pieces trimmed with fine furs.

"They have proven popular with old and young customers," she said, "and they have very much represented the cutting edge of today's fashion."

Like most retailers, Dittrich is conscious of the prospect that product may become in short supply, and proprietor Hal Dittrich has managed inventory carefully so that he will enter the fall season with a reasonable supply of garments.

For further information contact: Fur World, Creative Marketing Plus, 19 West 21st Street, Suite 403, New York, NY 10010; Tal.: (212) 727-1210; Fax: (212) 727-1218; fharrow@creativemarketingplus.com.

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