Store have prepared for season a year in advance
Guess what. All of the ski clothes and department stores’ winter sweaters that you watched being placed on shelves the day after Thanksgiving were ordered last year.
More than people may realize, stores are constantly thinking ahead of the season. The winter items being purchased by customers now have – in some stores – been sitting in their backrooms since the summer.
Dillard’s area sales manager Kristin Smith said their buyers are mostly out of Phoenix and winter merchandise is bought almost a year ahead, usually in January or February. The national market starts thinking about the next winter at about that time, Smith said.
Gary Hanson, a store manager of JC Penney, said they start receiving their winter goods in June or July.
“With the fashion trends you have to get manufactured that early,” Hanson said. “You have to be ahead of the season because of the merchandise flow.”
For example, he said right now they’re looking at shorts and swimming suits for the coming spring and summer.
Hanson said one thing that allows stores to buy so early is by looking at the past season’s sales records. They decide what to buy based on what did or didn’t sell during the previous season.
“Logan is colder than Salt Lake is, and so we sell more winter goods than they do,” Hanson said.
He said that’s why it’s important that they have so much communication with their buyers in Dallas, because the manufacturers organized their clothing by climate.
Utah State University students have their own habits when it comes to buying for a specific season.
Danielle Reiber, a freshman majoring in history, said she gets all of her winter clothing after winter is over.
“Then they’re all on sale,” she said.
Freshman Jedd Moss, an electrical engineering major, does his buying on the other side of the season.
“The best time to get my ski stuff is usually before the season starts,” he said.
Paul Lloyd, a manager for Al’s Sporting Goods, said the time merchandise is ordered depends on the item.
For example, skis and ski equipment are usually ordered six to 10 months ahead. For basketballs and game tables, it takes about four to five months. But for the other items, such as clothing and year-round sporting goods, it usually takes closer to a year.
Unlike stores that only sell clothes, Lloyd said Al’s buys merchandise based on how many orders they get for a certain item.
-sarahwest@cc.usu.edu