Retailers Shift Gears

A slew of retailers released their October sales numbers this morning. Abercrombie and Fitch is down 5 percent Neiman Marcus is down 6 percent, but Target is inching up to 3 percent growth.

As stores ship off Halloween costumes and drag out the Christmas displays, they’re trying some new, creative tactics to lure in consumers and drive up sales. Some surprising big box stores are putting an end to sales and permanently lowering prices. Other mid-level retailers are rolling out luxury goods in the hope of snatching high-end shoppers trolling for deals. Department stores are ordering less and keeping more in the warehouse to drive up demand, so don’t assume that holiday-themed sweater will be waiting for you in the sales bin this January.

Jena McGregor has been watching these trends from her perch at BusinessWeek, where she’s editor of the management department.

McGregor wrote about how retailers are responding to changing consumer demands for a recent issue of the magazine and joins us as part of NHPR’s Working It Out series.

BusinessWeek: The Hard Sell

(Photo by Mark Kobayashi-Hillary via Flickr/Creative Commons)