More shoppers head to discount stores
By Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY
In recent weeks, some people who seldom shopped at Wal-Mart, for reasons ranging from a perception of low quality to poor customer service, say they’ve put aside those concerns in favor of saving money. Others who normally favor attractively displayed merchandise and a wide selection now say they find off-price retailers a way to shop down without sacrificing style or brands.
That shift, suggests Marcy Syms, CEO of off-price retailer Syms, is “something we’ll see more of, and it’s consistent with past harbingers of recession. It takes a lot for people to change buying patterns. It usually has to be something they feel significantly in their home budgets.”
Marcy Syms notes that the 1990-91 recession actually helped lift sales at Syms.
Phil Rist, a vice president at consumer insights firm BIGresearch, notes: “Consumers are shopping around more. … You’re definitely seeing more activity at the discounters than you do in economic boom times.”
Retail analyst Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank Securities notes that Wal-Mart emerged from the 2001 recession in stronger shape than it entered it.
The trend could carry long-term implications for all the retailers. People who try — and like — stores in shaky economic times are more likely to stick with them after the economy rebounds.
About 85% of people with household incomes of more than $100,000 reported in WSL Strategic Retail’s new How America Shops survey that they were already shopping at Wal-Mart at least once in the prior three months.
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