Summer retail sales called sluggish

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 24, AUGUST 20, 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.

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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker

Summer retail sales called sluggish

ACTIVITY AT THE RETAIL LEVEL, NEVER BIG AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR, appears to be even more sluggish than usual and some retailers are beginning to worry that what they perceive as consumer malaise could carry into the fall. While the summer’s heat – in many cases at record levels – is blamed for cutting traffic through the stores, this is considered more or less normal until the fall cooling-off brings relief. But they see factors other than seasonal as having come into greater play and undermining consumers’ spending plans, for which they see no quick relief. Among these are a deteriorating home-loan situation, a highly volatile stock market and the continuing war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In general, retailers see no problem with their upper-income clientele, whose spending habits are not likely to be impacted by a pinch in home mortgage rates or higher fuel prices. Nor will their temporary stock losses deter plans to purchase a $12,000 mink or a much higher-priced sable. What they are most concerned about are the bread-and-butter minks and other furs in the $3,000 to $6,000 range that constitute the bulk of the business for most retailers.

IMPORTS OF FUR APPAREL INTO THE UNITED STATES continued to drop in June, although the rate of decline has been progressively lower each month since the beginning of the year. The latest Commerce Dept. figures confirm earlier reports of reduced orders placed by Americans at the various international fairs this year as a result of the disappointing 2006-07 retail season and the unsold stocks that had to be carried forward. Imports from all sources in June amounted to $12.1 million, down 28% from the same month last year. Again, the biggest decline was in the mink sector, down 37% at $5.3 million, while imports of other furs dropped 19% to $6.9 million.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Summer Sales Called Sluggish
Some See Malaise Continuing
Skin Market Quiet, but Firm
U.S. Imports Continue to Slide
China Reviving Import Curbs?

For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Archive. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.