Welcome to holiday shopping, circa 1991. Reeling from the lingering economic slump, retailers are doing everything short of jumping through burning hoops to get customers into the stores. Accountants Deloitte & Touche and advertising agency DDB Needham say the number of merchants expecting heavier markdowns was about twice that of those expecting lighter ones. “It’s raining one-day sales,” adds Retail Marketing Report’s Kurt Barnard.
The come-ons range from the more pedestrian turkey giveaways to lavish in-store galas. Bloomingdale’s has holiday “shopping nights” where guests can sip champagne, win gifts and register for European vacations. (Admittance is by Citibank Visa or Mastercard only.) Recession-plagued Saks Fifth Avenue is even plying customers with “gift checks” worth up to $150. Shoppers who charge their Christmas purchases with a Saks credit card can use the checks in the store.
The industry giants aren’t the only skillful practitioners of Yuletide bribery. Gerri Ciccinelli, owner of Micky & Me, a children’s clothing store in Chicago, recently hauled in a silhouette artist to draw pictures of the kiddies while their mothers browse. To appeal to politically correct consumers, Santa Monica, Calif., clothier Fred Segal Comfort is promising to festoon the menswear store in environmentally sound decorations and replant the three live Christmas trees on display. (Electricity for the tree lights comes from a customer-driven bicycle generator.) Some community leaders have joined together to give merchants a boost during the uncertain shopping season. To encourage residents to shop locally, the Chamber of Commerce in Canton, Ill., has arranged with local financial institutions to offer no-interest loans to holiday shoppers. The loans-up to $5,000 in “Christmas dollars”-may be spent only at participating local merchants and are repayable in six months.
Such gimmicks should bring in customers. But some observers believe retailers may be overreacting. Despite last month’s drop in the consumerconfidence index, Barnard expects Christmas sales at pricey retailers to be up 2 to 3 percent before inflation this season, with sales at discount stores like K mart up as much as 6 percent. The message for shoppers? Get your free turkey while you can.
