The boutiques will outlive the department stores because they are still merchants, we’ll get to that shortly but first…
Jockey underwear reported this week that, “sales of pink underwear are soaring as men use their undergarments to cheer them up in the economic crisis.” Jockey claims that sales of their colored Y-front briefs have rocketed by an average of 60% over the last six months – and the baby pink pairs have sold more than any other, seeing a 62% boost in sales over the past three months.”
The UK’s Daily Mail website concludes, “If claims that men are perking themselves up using their underpants is true, it adds a new dimension to lipstick economics – the theory market-watchers attribute to sales of small cosmetic items rising in a recession, or the fact that hemlines rise and fall with the economic state of the country.”
Hold that thought a moment …
I was in Portand, OR for a presentation with the Oregonian newspaper about 6 weeks ago and stumbled on Finn in the upscale shopping district, the Pearl. The whole store was merchandised with a merchant’s sensibility. Clearly an upscale men ’s clothing store, it stopped your eyes from wandering with overstuffed, handmade, free-trade toys, antiques and other knickknacks that made you want to browse.
I was surprised to see a large display of fancy socks and underwear. The owner came up to me and told me socks and underwear were becoming the coolest thing to accessorize your wardrobe. “Really?” I asked. “The crazier the better,” he said. 
We chatted a bit more about the socks made by Duchamp and I ended up getting a pair myself (at right.) That was the only time he was behind the counter.
Contrast that experience to the one a week prior at Bloomingdale’s, the store who used to be all things trendy, smart and fashionable. Walking through the men’s aisles I found, like most department stores these days, the gang of three employees talking. In the men’s furnishings section there were some interesting items but to this day I still have no idea what they were used for or why they were on top of a counter clearly for sale. (You can try to make them out on the counter to the left in the photo below.)
After staring at them for 2-3 minutes, I looked around for help. Sure enou
gh, the gang of three was behind the castle expecting me to approach so they would graciously stop talking, lower the drawbridge and cross the moat to wait on me.
And here’s the point of this post: it is the boutique operators who will bring us out of the recession. They are the ones who are truly the merchants looking to wow us with new products and convince us to try new things. They are the ones giving a pulse to America. They are where you should be shopping.
Contrast the latest trends Jockey reported to your local Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and other mid to upper tier stores where all you’ll see displayed face-out will be a sign, “25% off Jockey” with a mountain of white.
You want to get more customers in a recession? You’ve got to earn it; even if it means you have to be knowledgeable about men wearing pink underwear so you’ll feature the best-selling, colorful ones upfront, along with colorful socks. And to do that, you have to get employees out from behind the castle and talk up your products.
You can’t invent trends -unless you were Starbucks in the early 90s - but you can ride them. Merchants know this.
Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor, has helped thousands of independent businesses compete by using his approach to business and not discounting. He speaks to groups large and small how to grow sales in a friendly, engaging and entertaining manner.
