What does 2009 have in store for retail?

As we all know 2008 was a crazy year in terms of our economy. Being in retail and seeing what 2008 brought, I am very intrigued to see what 2009 has in store. I was able to experience what retail was like in two major US cities, New York and Chicago, as well as two different retails Saks Fifth Avenue and my present employer, who I will not mention by name for legal reasons. Retail as a whole was clearly down for 2008 and for the first time the luxury goods market was down 35% in December. We saw stores like Saks that gave crazy discounts and luxury brands who usually don't even go on sale until the day after Christmas or even after the new year, broke sale well before Thanksgiving. For some stores it worked, Saks is still open for now, but for some it didn't. The iconic Tracey Ross boutique in Los Angeles closed it's doors this year. A store that helped create what is Robertson Blvd today and then later moving to it's West Hollywood home on Sunset for the past decade, will surely be missed by the locals and tourists.

December 28th, 2008 officially began the January 2009 month for the store I currently work at and so far our numbers are double what they were last year. Its a great boost to the year for us, but is it just the holiday buzz rolling over? What is going to happen two weeks from now when people have been at work, students are back in school, and life goes back to normal? Will they still be shopping? Only time will tell.

Until then....

TPM