Chuck Grom holds responsibilities as managing director with Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in New York and provides knowledgeable analysis of consumer-facing sectors. Among the companies that Chuck Grom covers are traditional department stores such as Kohl’s, Macy’s, JCPenney, and Nordstrom.
A recent Denver Post article pointed to broad demographic shifts in the way in which consumers purchase clothes, with social media more influential than store displays within a mall setting. Eating at stores’ core margins is an increasing number of niche online retailers that are able to leverage low overheads to emphasize discounts and a wider array of styles.
Deloitte analysts estimate that curated brands such as Bonobos and Stitch Fix, as well as discounters such as thredUP, have taken approximately $200 billion in revenues from the market’s leading 25 retailers over the past five years. The 3 percent overall increase in US clothing sales to $218.7 billion in 2016 masked a 4 percent decline in sales among national department stores and mall-based chains. Increased sales among brick-and-mortar retailers were led by off-price stores such as Ross and T.J. Maxx, which achieved 5 percent growth.
With Internet e-tailers quick to come and go, one emerging trend involves companies such as Bonobos, Warby Parker, and Blue Nile setting up showrooms and positioning themselves as hybrid retailing forces.
