The National Retail Federation’s annual report on the Top 100 Retailers is based on sales for the most recently completed fiscal year. The Power Player charts look at retailers with 2019 US sales equal to or greater than 10 percent of sales of the category leader.
The apparel industry in general and the luxury segment in particular have not been treated well by current events. Worldwide sales of apparel will drop 15.2 percent this year, or nearly $300 billion, according to information and analytics company GlobalData.
NRF Top 100 Retailers
“The 10 worst-impacted markets, in terms of value, will represent the vast majority of this total loss with mature regions suffering the hardest — the US will account for more than 40 percent of all lost spend, which will contribute to more major chains filing for Chapter 11 over the next few months,” said Honor Strachan, principal analyst with GlobalData.
Neiman Marcus was the first of this power player group to succumb to the new reality, while Nordstrom and siblings Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor are employing defensive measures to avoid the same fate.
“Even if some retailers experience revenge spending in the initial months following a lift in lockdown and then see trading return to 2019 levels later in the next six months, across the 49 markets we cover we do not expect this to make up for lost periods of trading in the first half of 2020,” GlobalData said, adding, “the apparel market is not expected to return to or exceed its 2019 value, until at least 2022.”
Bloomingdale’s has been a relative bright spot in contrast with corporate sibling Macy’s, closing stores selectively while making better use of those that remain. For one thing, it rotates shops-within-stores rather quickly, allowing it to present more new merchandise in the same amount of space.
“Bloomingdale’s focus on luxury means it doesn’t have the same issues as Macy’s. I don’t think they’re falling to the wayside the way a lot of luxury retailers have been,” said Scott Stuart, chief executive of the Turnaround Management Association… NRF.com
