Retailers Shouldn't Sweat Warm Days
By: The retail industry loves to blame poor sales on the weather, but worries about the impact of unseasonably warm temperatures in November and December may be overdone.
CNBC’s Margaret Brennan reported that the International Council of Shopping Centers says in unseasonal weather can drag down same-store sales by as much as 23% in anay given month, but in December, the impact can be as little as 8%. Thanks to the Yuletide.
And Bill Kirk, CEO of Weather Trends International, is cautioning clients including Wal-Mart and Kohl’s not to lower inventories of winter apparel.
Kirk says that consumers are not necessarily spending less, but are distributing their money differently than might be expected. Kirk told “Street Signs” that warmer weather actually spurs more walk-in traffic across outdoor strip malls – and says such pedestrian shoppers are buttressing sales of stylish wintry gear, like teen favorite Ugg boots.