Holiday Spirit Department Stores Have Long Attracted Shoppers for More Than Just Gift Buying, but a Touch of Seasonal Joy and Whimsy As Well
DAILY EDITION DECEMBER 24, 2019 Fashion. Beauty. Business. Holiday Spirit Department stores have long attracted shoppers for more than just gift buying, but a touch of seasonal joy and whimsy as well. The interior of Galeries Lafayette, seen here, offers tidings on a grand scale. Storefronts provide retailers a chance to add some fun and fantasy to their exteriors and that holiday spirit was on display across the globe. For more, see pages 6 to 10. PHOTOGRAPH BY DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE 2 DECEMBER 24, 2019 Shoppers on Super Saturday in New York City. season overall. Business was “spotty” through most of December after a robust Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday stretch. Also, the apparel sector is generally soft, particularly outerwear due to erratic weather patterns; there are six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, meaning shopping would be more compressed close to Christmas raising the likelihood, and the week after Christmas is important particularly for returns and gift card redemptions. Some analysts believe the shorter calendar leads to less browsing and fewer impulse and self-purchasing simply because there is less time to shop. CPG’s results are based on both store and online sales calculated from quantitative surveys conducted by the firm’s 18-researcher field team across 50 major retailers in more than 100 mall and off-mall shopping venues that CGP has tracked since 2005. Robust job and wage growth along with healthy household finances drove the increase, Johnson said. CGP’s holiday analysis tracks all Census Bureau retail categories except for autos, gasoline/ oil and restaurants. Industrial-strength promoting, weather conditions conducive to getting out and shopping, and the late Hanukkah, which began Sunday night, would have also factored into the results.
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