Stores feature great bargains as a way to entice shoppers to clean out their stores to make room for spring and summer merchandise, said Daniel Butler of the National Retail Federation.
“Also, as people put the ornaments away, they tend to get into spring cleaning mode early and want to freshen the house,” Butler said.
In January, white sales — discounts on sheets, towels and other household items — are quite prevalent.
Many a young couple got engaged over the holidays. That, said Butler, means “a lot of new brides are registering for gifts. The home store begins to appeal to them. Even though the wedding isn’t for months, it’s a great time to buy wedding gifts.”
TJ Maxx plans to promote their active-wear, beauty and home departments as part of a New Year/New You/New Home campaign, according to Laura McDowell, company spokeswoman. The store also will have fall and winter merchandise on clearance.
Gift cards are a big part of mall traffic for the month of January, said Aaron Martin, senior consultant with ShopperTrak, a consumer traffic monitoring company.
“Gift cards have effectively extended the holiday season and we’re seeing January as the gift card redemption month,” Martin said, calling this a trend he’s seen emerge in the last three years.
“Even though a lot of the sales have already been paid for, stores are obviously trying to entice customers to spend more,” he said. “Retailers understand they have an opportunity to focus on the shopper so we’ll continue to see post-holiday sales of 40 to 50 percent off.”
The discount department store giant Wal-Mart set its sales for the gift-card wielding Mom and her family.
“After the holidays, a lot of moms are shopping with their family. The kids are looking for toys and games [i.e., electronics] and Mom is looking for things for the home and things for her,” said Melissa O’Brien, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Inc.
Shoppers can expect to see toys and home items discounted as much as 50 percent off, O’Brien said. Select seasonal items such as candles and electronics will be discounted as well.
A December survey conducted by marketing research company American Research Group found only 9 percent of shoppers had a hard time finding their size in stock this holiday season.
How does that impact the after-holiday shopper? “This means there is going to be a pretty good supply of apparel left over for January,” said Britt Beemer, spokesman for the American Research Group. “I expect there will be some pretty big discounts in apparel. However, we won’t see nearly as much in electronics.”
Beemer also advised the savvy customer to keep an eye out for coupons and private retailer sales via rewards programs.
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1965808,shoppers-find-discounts-spring-123109.article
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