American Apparel billboard on Sunset Blvd, courtesy of Deborah K
The Complicated World of American Apparel (WWD)
Amid one of the most dismal retail environments on record, American Apparel has posted a 3% profit.
New Info Shoppers (WSJ)
Over the past few years, a new class of strapped consumers has been poring over product spec sheets, third-party reviews and expert blog sites to find the best value. Hail the “new info shopper.”
Wave of Bankruptcy Filings Expected From Retailers in Wake of Holidays (WSJ)
With consumer confidence in the doldrums, retailers, “are expected to begin a wave of post-holiday bankruptcy filings, altering the landscape at malls and on main streets across the country.”
Gianfranco Ferre Mens to Debut in Milan (Fashionista)
Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi, newly-appointed Gianfranco Ferre design heads, will unveil a menswear range on January 18th during Milan men’s fashion week.
I am definitely a new info shopper when it comes to online purchases. I use shopstyle.com to compare prices or just search for something I want. Hardly use product reviews when it comes to clothes, but only because there seems to be a lack of them on the actual retailers site (with the exception of American Apparel). This statement, “They believe the information they find, not in the information that is spoon-fed to them,” really spoke to me. I think a lot of people are going to start questioning their marketing tactics and how genuine they are.
Posted by: Katlin – 13 January, 2009 at 9:31 amthere’s going to be a major shake up come feb. The tents will be a quick 15 minute death rattle for many a company, including some very well known names…..Just watch and wonder,”What happened?”
Posted by: Fluff Chance – 14 January, 2009 at 12:06 amfluff Chance
http://emperorsoldclothes.blogspot.com/
Damn, those WWD links are jolly frustrating to those of us who aren’t subscribers…
Posted by: rollergirl – 15 January, 2009 at 9:03 pm@rollergirl: Yes, we’re sorry about that. We’ve faced a conundrum here at BoF as to whether to include links from sites that require a subscription. Whenever possible, we refrain from it, but when WWD breaks important news first or does in-depth pieces (like the one on American Apparel above) we would be remiss if we did not include them. The point of the Daily Digest to source all the unmissable news of the day so that BoF readers can stay on top of the headlines, without having to search through the plethora of information themselves.
Going forward, we will continue to post articles which require a subscription only sparingly and will also indicate which links require a subscription.
Posted by: Imran Amed, Editor – 16 January, 2009 at 8:29 am