THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012
PAGE 11
SHOPPING
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN
A sign is posted in the front window of Arizona Trading Co. at 736 Massachusetts St. for the sidewalk sale this Thursday from 7am to 8pm. For many stores the sale is a way to get rid of a substantial amount of summer items to make room for fall items.
ECONOMY
Spending woes cause angst
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Shoppers, worried about jobs and the overall economy, pulled back on spending in June, resulting in tepid sales for many retailers.
The results raise concerns about Americans' ability to spend during the back-to-school season, which is the second-biggest shopping period of the year and starts later this month.
As merchants reported their sales early Thursday, many of them disappointed. Costco reported a gain below
Wall Street expectations, while Target and Macy's also fell short.
However, wealthy shoppers continued to splurge on status goods despite the weakening stock market. That boosted results at Saks and Nordstrom.
"These are disappointing results," said Ken Perkins, president of Retail-Metrics, a research firm. "The consumer is slowing down and becoming increasingly more cautious as the economic backdrop is deteriorating. This doesn't set up particularly well for back-to-school."
People spent more earlier in the year, when warmer-than-usual weather and a sunnier outlook for the economy lured shoppers to load up on spring clothing. But consumers have grown more cautious since.
June, a period when stores clear out summer merchandise to make room for fall goods, is typically the second-biggest shopping month behind December.
But that honor may go to March, because spending was tepid last month and it took more discounts to get shoppers to buy.
Students, stores prep for annual sidewalk sale
KELSEA ECKENROTH
editor@kansan.com
Get your cash and credit cards ready.
Merchants are discounting summer clothes to make room for fall stock and selling misprinted T-shirts at bargain prices for the Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale on July 19.
"I'll probably be looking at most of the stores that are selling clothing because I am starting at KU this year," McCoy said, "So some new school clothes will be nice to find."
Marian McCoy, an incoming freshman from Lincoln, Neb., has never shopped at the Sidewalk Sale before and is excited for her first experience.
McCoy is attending the sale with her sister, who recently bought a house in Lawrence, so McCoy also plans to look for decorating objects for her dorm room and her sister's house.
Gabrielle Reimer, a senior from Meade, usually shops at clothing stores during the sale and has a strategy planned out to make shopping at the sale easier this year.
"I will probably go the day before and see what some of the stores have and then get an idea." Reimer said. "That way, I know what I am looking for the day of the sale."
Like many stores downtown, Arizona Trading Co., 736 Massachusetts St., credits the sidewalk sale as one of its busiest days of the year.
"We go through and things we already have on sale, we mark down even more," said Corey Sievers, the store manager. "We even sell a lot of regular priced items because the prices are cheap anyways."
During the sale, Arizona Trading Co. has a table marked "1,3,5," and everything on the table costs between $1 and $5.
Sievers said the Sidewalk Sale is a way for Arizona Trading Co. to weed out the spring and summer clothes and make room for fall items, so the summer clothing is marked down substantially.
Jennilyn Keinsley, general manager of ACME, 847 Massachusetts St., said the Sidewalk Sale gives ACME more business than usual. The entire ACME staff is working during the Sidewalk Sale, as are some employees from other ACME locations.
Keinsley said ACME is putting T-shirts that were misprinted, such as shirts made in the wrong size or color, on sale. People may be able to customize their own shirts for cheap, but that isn't definite yet. "We're still trying to nail down the specifics," Keinsley said.
—Edited by Megan-Hinman