Are Americans pushing the brand name aside to save money?

New York Times 9/3/09

As I was looking through various articles on major newspaper sites, I came across one from The New York Times. It's not a "hard news" article, meaning it's not hot off the press or going on as we speak. The article is about the decrease in sales at major retailers for the back-to-school season. You could almost assume something like this would happen, especially for the back to school clothes. It is said that the economy is stabilizing, but after reading the statistics, I have trouble believing that.

On the first day of school, students all over the country want to show off their newest clothing items. With job cuts and a plummeting economy, some parents couldn't afford the expensive clothing their children wanted. As a whole, there was a 2.9% decrease in sales for this back-to-school season. The biggest drop in sales was at Abercrombie and Fitch, a teen store that sells overpriced clothing for men and women. There was a 29% decrease in sales. It's no surprise to me that a store selling $30 t-shirts isn't making any money. An alternative to Abercrombie is Aeropostale, which sells similar clothing for cheaper prices. Aeropostale was one of the few clothing stores with an increase in sales and was up 9% this August. Other clothing stores with increased sales were TJ Maxx and Kohl's. TJ Maxx, up 5%, re-sells in style, cheap, and normally-would-be-expensive clothing. In these statistics, it's really showing that the average American is going for a cheaper wardrobe opposed to expensive clothing.

Do you see where this is going? The stores with the more affordable clothing obviously had sales increases over the expensive stores. I personally could have predicted these increases and decreases. I have shopped at each of the stores I named and TJ Maxx, one of the most increased sales, is definitely doing great in the economy. It has designer labels for men, women, and children with unbeatable low prices. Abercrombie is very overpriced; even the clothes on the sales rack. This decrease (and few increases) makes me wonder how the Christmas shopping season is going to be. Are people going to spend more in order to please? Or are they going to spend less to get more?


I think this article will draw people's attention because almost everyone can relate. The economy is affecting almost everyones lives and prices at retailers are a big deal. If Abercrombie sells a $50 sweatshirt, and Aeropostale sells a sweatshirt for $20, are people going to put the brand name aside and save money? This August, many Americans put the label aside and saved their money for more important things for clothes. I think this article has Human Interest because almost everyone can relate. Who knows what will happen to the retailers with expensive clothing. Will they lower their prices to sell more clothing? What do you predict?