Winter retailers sweat through warm holiday season
- The slopes at Woodbury Ski Area in Litchfield County have suffered under the warm weather this year and in turn the retailers who equip and cloth winter sports enthusiasts.
While exceptionally warm weather this November and December has been welcome among residents who remember the bitter cold snaps of last winter, retail stores, particularly those specializing in outdoor sports equipment and apparel, are feeling the burn from record breaking warm weather.
“The number one gift for Christmas is apparel,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a national retail consulting and investment banking firm headquartered in Manhattan.
“A lot of businesses in apparel have been murdered and you see that reflected in the bad performance of Nordstrom, Macys, Dillard’s ”” almost across the board negatives,” he said. “When warm weather like this comes, it kills the outerwear business.”
The slump in sales has also been felt on the county level, where some among long-established local businesses like Mitchells, Outdoor Sports Center in Wilton, and Ski and Sport of New Canaan, Ridgefield and Westport are counting this pre-winter sales season among the worst they have seen.
Aside from the plummet in sales at the start of the great recession in 2008, this has been the worst start to a winter season in decades, said Pam Alberino, whose family has operated their collection Ski and Sport shops for 40 years.
Sales are down 20 to 25 percent so far this season, she said.
Alberino said many of her customers, including her own family, have yet to break out winter apparel let alone shop for new items. Many East Coasters canceled or rearranged ski trips over the holiday season, she said, though ample snowfall in the mountains of the western states has kept business moving along.
With the National Weather Service reporting Christmas Day temperatures setting record highs in the mid-60s in Bridgeport and Danbury and the average temperature for December 11.8 degrees above normal in New York City, it hasn”™t been a stellar year, said Scott Maxwell, general manager of Outdoor Sports Center.
The drop in outdoor sports activity has made its biggest impact on extreme sports apparel and equipment, but he doesn”™t think this winter will be a washout, he said.
After Christmas, temperatures have begun to be more seasonable and this has allowed ski slopes to produce badly needed snow, he said.
Maxwell can”™t recall a winter on record where there hasn”™t been at least some snow in Connecticut and is optimistic business and winter activity will resume in January and February.
Woodbury Ski Area in Litchfield County normally aims to open November 1, but due to the warm weather this year the slopes did not open until just prior to Thanksgiving, said Chandler Brill, director of skiing at Woodbury.
“The warm weather has hurt our business. It has hurt everybody”™s business,” he said. “Most local ski areas are small businesses and it has hurt employment and revenue opportunities for the ski industry in New England across the board.”
With winter recreation plans melting away and customers walking into Mitchells of Westport in Bermuda shorts, Jack Mitchell, CEO of The Mitchell Family of Stores, said some adjustments may have to be made such as possible mark downs for winter items like heavy jackets and sweaters.
As with other the other retailers, Mitchell is confident the typical Connecticut cold will settle in soon and sales of winter items will rebound.
“It could always be better,” he said. “But holiday the season was still good.”
Alberino of Ski and Sport is also making adjustments to contend with offset sales with plans to start sales in January ”” earlier than usual and at more competitive pricing, she said.
Citing the light snowfall on Dec. 29, which marked the first snow of the season, she too remains optimistic for the coming winter months.
“I am optimistic,” she said. “If you look at last year it rained Christmas Eve and then we had a good amount of snow. I think the cold is going to get here and the winter will go later ”” just look at how late the season goes into April.”