Has anyone else noticed... - YouLookFab Forum

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Has anyone else noticed...

DressLover

Veteran

that designers and labels aren't producing as many items and/or that retailers aren't purchasing as many items?

I've been noticing this trend growing worse over the past few seasons. I first noticed this trend when certain designers that once flooded Nordstrom Rack, Off Fifth, Last Call, Outlets, etc. were no longer to be found. Instead of consistent good deals on quality items, discounted items were becoming merchandise specifically purchased for the discount store and heavily used or damaged returns.

Then I began noticing that while almost everything would go on sale at some point, more and more items were selling out before they reached sales. Some research revealed that retailers used to order 10+ of an item per size, they were now ordering 3-5 and in some cases just 1!

Case in point - I had a list of 5-6 items I was seriously considering for fall. These items haven't been available for even a month and already all of them except for ONE have sold out!

I wasn't necessarily waiting for a sale; I just wanted to make an informed and thoughtful purchase. Now I have to stalk for returns, a behavior previously reserved for heavily discounted items, just to get an item at full price!

Meanwhile, it seems like fast fashion retailers can't make enough of anything. *sigh* Times are changing...

Shopping

22 replies

Latest reply was from Lisa

Carole

Veteran

I guess this makes sense in a way. Perhaps with the economy, stores are left with loads of unsold merchandise and left to drastically reduce prices to make room for the new season. Too bad for us,

rae

(website)

Veteran

Yikes. Maybe I'd better save up for that pair of shoes I'd been eyeing sooner rather than later...

ironkurtin

Veteran

The Rack here is pretty full of goodies, but I think that may be because my taste is NYC and this is Austin. Maybe it depends on locale?

DressLover

Veteran

Ironkurtin, you may have to do some shopping for me.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

The recession has definitely caused fashion buyers to re-allocate their OTB (open to buy budget that is allocated to them by the retailer).

DL, I have found that some brands are becoming more exclusive, while others are becoming less exclusive as the supply increases - like DVF and Marc Jacobs. I also find it VERY regional.

DressLover

Veteran

Thank you for weighing in, Angie! It is extremely frustrating that this is becoming more common, even in online shopping. I just don't understand the effort behind shooting photos for a handbag there are only 5 of or a dress in only 3 of each size.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, yes. I think it's been a fashion wasteland for quite a few years.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I'm between jobs, you ask, I'll go look.

nicoleb

(website)

Veteran

Well i hadn't really noticed but i honestly have only recently started paying attention to higher name brands. I will say that in the past i've found the Nordstrom Rack here pretty uninspiring but went just last weekend and had amaaaaaaaaaaazing success. So much it's now going to be the first store i hit up before going anywhere else at MOA.

But that's a bummer when something you save up for or want to take time thinking about sells out so fast! I have that problem a lot. ;_;

DressLover

Veteran

I realize I was a little unclear. In addition to particular designers, I also many any label of clothing such as Nordstrom house brand Halogen to J.Crew to online boutique brands. It seems if it isn't aimed at teens with all disposable income, it isn't as widely available anymore.

Aida

Veteran

Who are all these teens with disposable income anyway? I sure didn't have any back then

Elly

Veteran

Aida-- while I was also a teen without a disposable income, it is really common these days. My younger brother who is 19 makes good money because he works doing hard labor (and did in the summers and on weekends even when he was younger), but even he can't keep up with the amount of money many of his friends have. I think it is a mix of parents that provide it and in some cases, jobs where kids are friends of the family or something and are being paid over their qualifications or way more than entry level. I also think that babysitting has gotten ridiculous expensive-- I know kids that make between 14 and 20 dollars an hour. Good childcare is important, but I can promise that these teens aren't worth triple or quadruple minimum wage-- I would expect a responsible adult with alot of experience and all the courses or an older teen or college student with good qualifications for that. But, for the most part I think it is the parents.

I certainly missed out on many social activities and friendships in high school (not that looking back I would have wanted them) because most of the teens I went to high school with always had lots of expensive new things and the money to go out to the movies every weekend-- where I was lucky to have 7 nicer (non-boys) shirts at any one time and drove one of only a couple beater cars.

taylor

Veteran

I noticed this a couple of years ago when I worked for Ann Taylor when the economy really took a hit.
When items sold out they didn't ship us more...they actually told us...these items are limited in number...designed to sell out. It keeps their inventory low!!

Before the back room seemed packed with what seemed like a limitless supply of the current hot sellers...and the Christmas shipment lasted forever...now most backrooms are barebones and no replenishing of items!

The red pencil midi that both Angie and I wanted is a perfect example...when it's gone..it is really gone ...no more shipment coming in:(

Aida

Veteran

Elly, that sounds so odd to me! I worked during high school as well, mostly with family but still minimum wage; it was my only income (no allowance for us), and I spent nearly all of my money on my computer, music equipment, and concerts but certainly in calculated, limited quantities. I feel like I shouldn't be old enough to say "back when I was a kid we worked hard but earned little and spent wisely" at only 30

Aziraphale

Veteran

When it comes to kids with plenty of spending money, I think it comes down to what neighbourhood you live in. I've worked at schools where most kids come from families with two working white-collar parents, and those kids tend to have a lot of pocket money to throw around. I've also worked at blue collar schools, and many of those kids disappeared after school to go help their parents. Most of those kids didn't even get to spend the money they earned; it all went toward rent.

On top of that, there's a definite tendency for white-collar, double-income families to have only one or two kids, which means the parents can afford more for each kid.

I've even noticed a tendency, among parents in my own neighbourhood, to shower their very young children with piles and piles of toys, despite the fact that the net household incomes are not all that high. We've struggled against this accumulation of cheap plastic crap (which is what a lot of toys are) since our kids were babies. I'm not sure why parents do this. When we were kids, we certainly had a lot fewer toys than our own kids do (even though my parents could have afforded more), yet our kids seem to have far fewer toys than so many of their friends. It's crazy. And I think it contributes to the 'more more more' mentality that spills over into adolescence, with the kids expecting all this stuff.

One of the many reasons we only wanted two kids was so that we could afford more for each child -- but by more, I don't mean piles of crappy toys. I mean that we can afford a moderately-sized but nice house in the suburbs, and soccer, and violin lessons, and fun summer camps, and the occasional family holiday or ski trip -- and even at that, we're cutting it pretty tight. Vancouver is an expensive city. It bothers me a little that we turn our kids into such massive consumers at such a young age. I'm really trying to teach my kids to value their belongings, and to appreciate quality, and to not get into the more more more rut. (We'll see how that works out in ten years' time).

Aziraphale

Veteran

Oops, Dresslover, sorry....I just re-read the above and realized that not only did I ramble on for half a page, but I went way off topic. Sorry about that.

As for clothes selling out before you can snag one in your size -- welcome to my hell. This happens all the time for me! Angie did a blog post once on why they don't stock many small sizes, and it's true. They don't.

Elly

Veteran

Taking into account what Elisabeth said, I will say my community is very mixed. Ours is kinda tricky, because we have a large number of people working blue collar jobs that are making a lot of money--- working on a well rig is working on a well rig, but the pay can be very decent. Then there are a huge cohort of people that have moved in from other places to be the specialists and bosses in the high dollar industries of tourism and mineral extraction or just have the money from a past life to live high on the hog. Then there is a good portion of the community that still works in ag or in service industries and lives between the poverty line or below (for the area) and maybe 30-40k more than the poverty limit. We had kids who personally owned two cars or drove a hummer to school in the same school as kids that were homeless and fending for themselves. There was a clear hierarchy of inequalities. On the other hand, I have one friend who had more money than he knew what do do with take another friend in who had lost his home after his father had been jailed.

Elly

Veteran

Apologies as well--- and I agree I have seen an increase in how few items are being sold online. Sometimes it almost seems as though they are trying to create a buying frenzy.

DressLover

Veteran

Hey, I don't mind! I started the tangent.

MNsara

Veteran

I think so many retailers suffered in 2008 and 2009, and after those massive sales and major discounts, they are trying to recapture shoppers in new ways. Back then, there were discussions about how high-end consumers had now become acquainted with discounts and how would they ever be willing to pay full retail price again.

I have to think that 'scarcity' is a tactic (supply vs. demand), as well as, none of the retailers ever want to be caught with that much inventory again in our still unstable economy.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I don't blame the retailers. No one wants loads of inventory they can't shift. And I am happy to pay full price for an item IF I think it's a reasonable price.

Lisa

Veteran

I've noticed a store never has any "extras" in their supply room. The answer is always "what we have is out." In the past I could always find the smaller size in a stock room or on a mannequin. Even the mannequins are wearing a larger size lately.