All Talked Out “Ain’t Satisfactioning Me”

I am tired of all the talk and am exhausted from doing the talking myself. Retail is tough these days, everyone knows it. There is a shift in the customer’s shopping behaviour and perceptions to be sure. But let’s not keep beating a dead horse.

It may not be business as usual but it still is business. People are shopping – it’s a natural and necessary phenomenon and usually a huge part of a woman’s means of entertainment (this is not a sexist comment rather a sad commentary on the 21st century male who still is averse to shopping for anything other than a big screen TV from Best Buy, a winch from Home Depot or fishing lures from Bass Pro Shops and they would do it all online if they could to avoid browsing the stores themselves).

But we have been talking about the economy for over 8 months now. It is time to act as retailers:

1) I am tired of talking about Gap’s recovery and how much cash they have: Do something bold and creative and re-invent that company! Tinkering with the Old Navy format is nice and may drive some comps (although they have probably lost a total of 50% of their volume from their peak by now so 5-10 comps aren’t bold enough to my mind). With $1.7 billion in cash, they could acquire or create something to revolutionize the retail industry. Continuing to talk about how well they have managed their expenses and cash does not cut it with the consumer. Gap brand has been an issue for over 5 years now. Old Navy seems irrelevant in the market right now with H and M and Uniqlo set to continue to eat their lunch. Banana Republic is the most surprising disappointment to me. It occupied a unique niche in the market and in these times, the brand should be excelling at playing up their position as the fashion alternative to expensive designer offerings and the anti-Neiman Marcus, if you will.

2) I am tired of talking about the woes of the Canadian department store business and what the future holds for these large consolidated national players. The Canadian department store business has shrunk considerably in the past 5-10 years. With new ownership (yet again) at The Bay / Zellers parent company, it is time for bold action. I don’t think going “upscale” to compete with Holt Renfrew at this time is the reinvention The Bay needs. It needs creative thinking about what each floor in their portfolio represents, who each floor targets and how to create excitement, energy and impulse buying. The Bay can become anything it wants as the name is that strong. An upscale fashion resource may not be the right overall message to reinvent the brand.

As for Zellers, it has been an enigma for so many years. Rumour after rumour about Target and others looking and passing on purchasing the company because of the onerous real estate issues regarding size and numbers of non-performing locations have all created a stasis in the business. Who does Zellers appeal to? How can it knock the socks off that customer and compete against Wal Mart at the same time? I would like to see some bold action taken and for Zellers to come out and stand for something other than “The Lowest Price is the Law” and “Everyday Value”. Apparel offerings may be a place to successfully compete with Wal Mart as they cannot seem to get that right. Everyone knows about the Zellers value proposition, thecustomer can get value in many places right now. What other type of “value” are you going to offer your customers aside from price?

3) I am tired of talking about expense cuts and layoffs and “belt tightening” and having Wall Street applaud companies for that. Firstly, in every business cycle, these are natural occurrences. Maybe the company was too fat to begin with. Anyway, my point is that there is never enough credit given to or talk about creativity and unique merchandising in the industry. I realize the current economic conditions but that is when, I believe, fresh merchandise that emanates value to the customer from the standpoint of being style right, colourful and that makes people stop and say “Im Lovin’ It” and entices others to ask them “Where Did You Get That?” People want to feel good about themselves, especially in these tougher times and those retailers that can constantly figure out what merchandise and/or experience helps them achieve that goal, will thrive. Look at Tesco or Buckle or Aeropostale or Family Dollar. They have adjusted to the times or have gained market share by standing out in terms of value, experience and offering.

It’s time to stop talking and start taking action to lure more customers back to your stores. To quote Elvis Presley:

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark

That’s the recipe for sustained retail excellence and performance no matter what the climate!

TheRetailTherapist

Anticipation

In this day and age, I am constantly reminded of Carly Simon’s iconic song “Anticipation” which actually became famous mostly because of a Heinz ketchup ad in the late 70’s. Carly wrote it while waiting for Yussuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) to pick her up on a first date.

Not only has the anticipation built for a new blog entry (;)), but in the retail industry today, everyone is anticipating a recovery in consumer spending shortly. Whether or not that happens sooner or later several questions will be answered over the course of the next 12 months regardless:

1) Will Abercrombie and Fitch come down off their high horse and figure out how to lure consumers back into any of their stores? Yes, I was a proponent of their staying the course without markdowns, but I, like most everyone else, never realized the depths that this recession would reach. It is too bad they didn’t think of knocking themselves off (like Gap did with Old Navy in a manner of speaking), because those that did (read Aeropostale and American Eagle Outfitters) have become quite successful and created billions of dollars in market capitalization on their own.

2) When will Gap start increasing same store sales? I am still a fan of their once iconic brands (that includes Gap, Gapkids, babygap, Gap Body, Banana Republic, Old Navy), but I know they are working hard at tweaking assortments and re-designing stores (again). Will it be enough to lure consumers back or have they already been fragmented out?

3) Can Buckle continue its amazing streak? They have yet to fall victim to any recessionary trends and their approach remains the same as it was when they had 5 stores (they now have close to 400). What will they do to continue to comp in the double digits?

4) What will really happen to the high end retailers? Will consumers learn to be happy with less in terms of material things including apparel and accessories?  I know consumers will always shop but will their shopping habits be forever altered and shift to better “value” and more economical merchandise? Will the Neiman Marcuses of the world have to close some stores and pare back their reach because of this new reality? Or, will the consumer treat this as a hiccup and go back to the way they were, purchasing high end merchandise with abandon? I gather it will depend on how long the recession lasts and how quickly the equities and housing markets recover.

5) And, finally, what will the mall landlords do? Will they load up their centres with service oriented merchants to fill the gaping holes in their malls or will they leave some of the spaces empty until they can get the rents they need to command? (just like Taubman Centers has always done – by choice mind you) Or will the mall landlords and retailers truly become partners and share the upside in any recovery and work together to forge a “New Deal”?

So, those are some of the reasons why that song keeps resonating in my head as I think about what the immediate future holds for specialty retail and the industry in general…

“And tomorrow we might not be together
I’m no prophet, I don’t know natures way
So I’ll try to see into your eyes right now
And stay right here, ’cause these are the good old days”

I am fine with the waiting, I just hope when the answers come, the red ketchup doesn’t spill all over the place…

TheRetailTherapist

Where’s the Beef?

I used to love that commercial. Wendy’s (!) made fun of McDonald’s and the entire world started using that phrase to single out thin arguments, lack of facts or just plain superficiality.

But, we use it here to describe what has ailed Loblaw’s (or is it Loblaw? – more on that in a minute). In a failed attempt to counter the Wal Mart effect in Canada, Loblaw’s (the largest grocer in the country with multiple banners) started a massive effort to sell everything but the kitchen sink (but lots of accessories to use in the sink itself). The company tried to restructure its entire supply chain itself to handle the gidgets, gadgets and apparel that they never used to handle. Alas, even before this economic downturn, they went into a tailspin and it cost their bright CEO his job.

But what about the beef? In the interim, the worst thing that happened is that they forgot they were a food retailer, and they used to be an exceptional one at that. Their trail blazing private label brand “President’s Choice” had ME reading their Insider’s Report for goodness sake to see what creative food items they had come up with on a monthly basis. This franchise was gaining traction internationally where they sold the brand into major supermarkets in the U.S. and abroad. But they took their eye off the ball and let the 500-pound gorilla in the room dictate their strategic thinking. Not to say it isn’t difficult, but when you have a huge advantage in a staple like food and you have the largest market share of any competitor, my advice is to get better at what you do and in that way you will keep that gorilla at bay.

It didn’t work out that way. It became an obsession. Not only did it distract the entire company but as a result, their core business suffered. Time and again the shelves weren’t fully stocked, our family’s favourite cheese was constantly out of stock and lean ground beef was nowhere to be found. It has been better lately although they have a new merchandising strategy for some locations as they call them “Loblaw” and they do not carry such common items as a mop or a duster like all supermarkets carry. The Loblaw without the apostrophe ’s’ denotes food only. Who thinks of these ludicrous things?

Anyway, they are trying now to pump up their private label brands once again. In addition to “President’s Choice”, they are pushing their “Blue Menu” healthier brand, their “PC Green” environmentally friendly brand and their “No Name” value brand. They have also struck some gold with their “Joe Fresh” apparel brand thanks to Joe Mimram. That is something at least Wal Mart cannot get right (and should have) -inexpensive fashionable apparel. It is just not in Wal Mart’s bones.

I am hopeful that Loblaw’s (or whatever they want to call themselves) will ultimately prevail. I have to say that Metro is looking better and better and giving them a run for their food dollar. Hopefully Loblaw’s has learned their lesson not to look in their rearview mirror so much and keep their eyes firmly fixed on their own road ahead which was already smoothly paved for them long ago.

TheRetailTherapist

No Spoons

I believe by now everyone understands the plight of our economy here in North America and indeed globally. I don’t think anyone has missed hearing about (or indeed, feeling) the shocking loss of value in the stock markets, housing prices and the dire straits some globally iconic companies find themselves such as Citigroup, AIG, Merrill Lynch, General Electric (GE), General Motors (GM), Chrysler, Ford and Bank of America. It is hard to believe but we have already been in this recession’s grasp for at least a few months now, the headlines ensuring everyone on the planet knows we are in this  “Global Economic Crisis”. It’s the only thing that may sell newspapers these days as they are staring at possible extinction as well.

As every retailer knows, it is now time to batten down the hatches, reduce costs, conserve cash and manage your business tightly. Wherever it is that a retailer makes money, that is where all the attention and focus of the organization should be.

A company like Starbucks should know we are in a recession by now. As a matter of fact, I believe they were in their own little “recession” for about a year or so prior to the market meltdown this past fall when their founder Howard Schultz stepped back in in January, 2008. Apparently he has re-focused the company, created a new “value” coffee for customers in the freeze dried variety and pared down the menu to the most profitable items. He has also emphasized, in a very wordy manifesto, the culture of the company and how important the store/customer “experience” is. He was so serious about this shift back to the company’s roots that he had every store in the world close for a few hours one evening last year so that the staff could be “re-trained” on the basics of the customer experience and individualized coffee preparation

So why, I ask, for the second time in a month, at the same Starbucks store, are they out of spoons? They sell yogurt parfaits which are delightful, but hard to eat without spoons. I asked the employees how that can be, and they shrug and giggle and apologize. To be perfectly honest, this is unacceptable.

It is a bad sign for this company, which is busy closing more stores than they are opening in the U.S. at the moment. Their operations, judging from the spoon experience, is not up to snuff, neither is their focus. I know this is an isolated example. If it had happened once, I can understand. But twice within a matter of weeks at the same store leads me to believe that Starbucks has serious problems.

Not only that, in this new era of every sale being more cherished than ever before, there is no excuse for this kind of incompetence. It is symptomatic of a larger issue, especially right now in this economic downturn. If times were booming and the line-ups were out the door and they keep tripling the spoon order and still can’t keep it in stock, that is one thing. But there are no line-ups, every sale is difficult, people are trading down to Tim Horton’s or McDonald’s – you better be as close to perfect in your execution in this economy or you are in serious trouble. They lost two parfait sales this past month from one customer. Multiply that a few times on what else they missed and you get a clear picture of what could be transpiring.

I would say any retailer is in serious trouble if they cannot figure out how to stock up on “spoons”, especially now.

TheRetailTherapist

The New Specialty Retail Model

You have heard it before: “Margin is Everything”. In these strange economic times, these words have never rung truer.

Take, for instance, the recent solid performance of Aeropostale. When most of the specialty retail world was crying “Uncle” from the recessionary stranglehold on consumer spending, Aeropostale posted positive comps every month this past fall including a 12 comp in December and an 8 comp in January.

How did they do this? Margins.

Their margins have allowed them to become the promotional specialty retailer in a very crowded teen/tween/preppy category. If you look at the recent results among those who occupy this exact space (we are talking the same look, let alone the same demographic), it was an unmitigated disaster. Abercrombie and Fitch (which refused to mark down – which I applaud by the way) posted comps in the negative 20’s for most of their fall and holiday seasons. American Eagle Outfitters (the cheaper knock-off of A & F) also posted negative comps in the teens for most of their fall and holiday seasons including a -22 comp for January.

In these uncertain economic times, where household income is tightening and spending is scrutinized daily, Aeropostale’s promotional stance with the exact same styling, esprit de corp and target market seems to be gaining market share from the other fuller priced preppy twins. Walking through the malls, I used to shake my head at how hard it was to tell the three brands apart. I often asked myself how could all three survive? If the names and store designs were taken away and you were left with an assortment overview without logos, it would be very hard to tell the three apart. That is, until recently. Aeropostale has become highly promotional 365 days a year. They seemed to have found a recipe for success even prior to the new economic realities.

How are they able to be so promotional all the time? It comes down to sourcing. As an example, if you are able to offer a sweatshirt at $50 dollars and it cost you $10 to manufacture, that is an initial gross margin of 80 points. Even if you sell the sweatshirt on promotion at 50% off, you are netting out at 60% gross margins, which is extremely healthy in any retail environment.

And, when you announce that you are turning your inventory 7 times a year, that is a license to print money. Especially in times of lower productivity, margins become the buffer to ensure you can still operate profitably as it provides a cushion when sales decline (which actually isn’t happening for them yet anyway).

They have successfully redesigned their stores, they have increased their media presence, but at the end of the day, they have embraced a full-on promotional model that seems to be a winner.

TheRetailTherapist:)

“Not-So-Crappy” Tire

Remember the old days in Canada? Our parents would purchase our first set of hockey equipment and first hockey stick at what we would call “Crappy Tire” or Canadian Tire, a general merchandise big box retailer unique to Canada.

Walking through one of their newly renovated and expanded stores dispels the notion of it being “Crappy Tire”. The aisles are wide, the place is bright and relatively clean. For the most part (except for the sporting goods / hockey department), the shelves are fully stocked and easy to browse. It struck me though that the company had to go through many iterations to get to the point they are now – basically without direct competition. Their uniqueness is in their eclectic offering.

Start with a large automotive section (parts, tires, accessories), then move onto garden care, then cruise the sporting goods section on your way to the hardware aisles and finally end up in the home section with everything from small appliances to bath towels and area rugs. This is the charm and the mystery of Canadian Tire.

With over 470 stores across the country their other secret to success is that almost every one of them is dealer owned, which means they are run by an entrepreneur who operates it as if it’s his/her own business. This also helps in maximizing sales volumes, minimizing wasted expenses and avoiding bloated inventories. The network is well supported from home office and the machine has been built since 1923 when A.J. Billes and his brother opened their first store in Toronto.

Just to add to their assortment, they bought Mark’s Work Wearhouse in 2002 and entered into the apparel business. They now have a bunch of stores where they are either side by side or where they put a Mark’s shop within the confines of the larger Canadian Tire box. This has been an extremely successful venture mainly because the customer profiles are so closely matched. Selling work wear to their every day customers was a natural fit and they haven’t looked back.

Their old slogan “More Than Just Tires” started getting people to think of them as a general merchandiser and not just a place for automotive parts and gadgets.

So, who do they compete with? That is difficult to say. They compete with all the automotive parts players (although they own and operate one of the biggest automotive parts retailers in the country named PartSource); they compete with Wal Mart because everyone does in general merchandise; they compete with sporting goods chains such as SportChek; they compete with Zellers and Sears in the home business; and they compete with all gas stations and convenience stores based on their own 266 store gas bar business and their 278 convenience stores.

They also compete with the banks as they have become the second largest Master Card franchise in Canada and have established their own bank in order to sell financial services and products.

So, what is the lesson? In this case, it isn’t “stick to your knitting”. It isn’t “stay laser focused on what you do best”. It seems that knowing your customers  intimately (which is virtually all suburban Canadian adults), having a respected and established name brand, evolving your assortment to mirror the evolving lifestyles of your customers and sticking with and supporting an experienced and talented dealer network are paying off in spades. Maybe “Know Thy Customer” is the golden rule in retail after all.

Now, if we could only do something about being able to get some sales floor help, it would make their store experience that much less “Crappy”…

TheRetailTherapist:)

Mr. Doom and Mrs. Gloom

I know….It’s bad out there.

Not only are retail sales as frigid as the “Arctic Blast” we are now experiencing, but the rhetoric and the over-reaction have sunk to new lows along with the thermometer.

If one looked long and hard, there were some bright spots in December even amidst this depressing atmosphere: Buckle again proved their concept is impervious so far with a 13.5% comp sales gain, continuing its two year string of double digit same store sales increases ; Aeropostale same store sales gained12%; Hot Topic and American Apparel also showed increases (the question is at what margin cost to each?)

Childrens’ Place was flat; Costco, BJ’s Wholesale, Family Dollar, GameStop and Walgreen’s all posted positive comps in December – which may be expected considering the climate.

But the main market maker is always Wal Mart and they didn’t disappoint as the elephant in the room. They reported a positive 1.7 comp which was, according to analysts, “shockingly” below the consensus of a positive 2.8% that they had pegged and at the lower end of the spectrum of company guidance.

Maybe it is time for the silly practice of providing guidance to be retired. While 1 point of comp sales is significant revenue when one is talking about Wal Mart, it is not a reason to commit hari-kari, which is exactly how the markets reacted to this news. It was ridiculous.

Here is why: Many factors could have contributed to the shortfall in absolute dollars in comp sales for December. It may have had nothing to do with store traffic, the number of transactions, gross margin percentage performance or operations. It could simply have been a consumer anomaly.

For example, when buyers plan a season, they try and guess (although Wal Mart “guesses” less than the average retailer because of the strength of their systems) what the consumer is going to buy, in what quantity and at what price. That is the science and art of the retail game. However, consumers have a mind of their own and they may choose to buy in completely different patterns than the buyers expected. Judging from the game-changing environment we now find ourselves in, some unexpected consumer behaviour may be expected.

So, if the consumers as a group purchase the assortment differently than what the executives expected (read : lower priced items, not necessarily because they are discounted, just because those items sell at retails less than others) , you can get an anomaly in the same stores sales performance. Average retail can have  a large affect on these figures.  Wal Mart, of all the retailers out there, deserves its results to be analyzed further before we all go off on scary tangents.

Wal Mart lost 15% the day it announced its “disappointing” sales. All I am saying is that a closer look is required before we draw such hasty conclusions.

We certainly are hyper-sensitive these days and with good reason. But we need to be reasonable too. This is Wal Mart we are talking about. They are, and continue to be, in great shape.

TheRetailTherapist

2009 Retail Resolutions

We are all guilty of making resolutions every new year and then watch as they fade away by the end of the first quarter. It is the measure of a strong, stubborn and a-type personality that actually sees a resolution through to completion and makes it last throughout the entire year (let alone make it life changing).

I would like to think us retailers are resolute enough to see through some sorely needed resolutions in what is promising to be a challenging year for our industry. It does not necessarily have to breed disaster if we all stick together and ensure the following come to life for the full year:

1) No retailer should panic and take excessive markdowns unless your business is truly on the brink. Markdowns are the scourge of all retail (especially independent retail) as full price needs to take on some true meaning once again. I realize this is easier said than done but I doff my cap to Abercrombie and Fitch, who realize that this recession too is short lived and they need to be relevant for decades to come. They have managed their business (read:Inventory) intelligently and are maintaining their pricing structure for better days. If a company has the wherewithal to do this, it will be rewarded in time.

2) Every retailer should invest in their people, especially at the expense of marketing budgets (among other line items). It is hard enough to find great people let alone, great people who actually want to work in retail. Do not let them leave either your company nor the industry. This, again, will pay back in spades when the economy turns around. Invest in training, payroll on the sales floor, product development talent and store experience talent. Do not start massive cuts of labour especially at the store level, which will inevitably create a viscious cycle.

3) Pour money, resources and talent into improving the customer experience. This could be a website or a physical environment but this is where your customer interfacing needs to be pretty special, when dollars are scarcer. Store design, staff/customer interaction, special events, visual merchandising are all examples of elements that will maximize your returns over the long term. If you start treating every sale as a gift (and this year it may turn out that way) and your staff can emulate that attitude, then you will have instilled something unique and special that will be “Built to Last”.

4) Focus your strategic plan on fewer elements in order to nail them. In times such as these, execution is critical. The organization has to be even more aligned than at any other time. Make it easier on everyone to rally behind fewer initiatives. This will actually increase creativity and goal achievement. It will also serve to lower stress levels and improve employee morale overall in a challenging environment.

5) Start to leverage your organization to make a difference in the communities in which you operate and improve your commitment to charitable and socially responsible causes. At a time when funds are drying up for charitable causes and community needs, your retail organization can do so much to alleviate the stress on these institutions by donating more product, more time and more energy and creativity to helping your staff and your company help others who need it most. That could be the most meaningful contribution any organization can make in times such as this.

So let’s get cracking on these 5 simple resolutions. Let’s also make sure they do not peter out at any time over the course of the next 360 days or so. We will be watching

TheRetailTherapist

The New Five and Dime

In the old days, thrift general merchandise stores were literally called  “Five-and-Dime” stores. F. W. Woolworth created the concept in the late 1900’s and virtually every main street in America (and Canada) contained one of these variety stores, the precursor to general merchandise retailing as we know it today. With over 1000 stores by the 1960’s, they were the Wal Mart of their time. They lasted through World War I,  the Great Depression and World War II.

Today, the basic business model has certainly been proved out mainly by Wal Mart. Granted, Wal Mart is on a much bigger scale but they certainly modernized the concept. The similarities are staggering: Low prices; endless supply of general merchandise; mediocre / non-descript store layout and design; outstanding real estate; and large footprints. If you think about what the five-and-dime grew up to be, it certainly has to be Wal Mart. Even Lee Scott, the retiring CEO, mentioned this past week that “Sam Walton built this business for economic times like these”. Indeed, Sam understood the five-and-dime concept intimately. Better yet, he knew that to survive long term and not become obsolete like Woolworth’s did, he would have to modernize the concept. That meant to him: bigger boxes; prime suburban real estate; the most revolutionary logistics retail has ever seen; and the lowest prices anywhere. He certainly captured the minds and wallets of a nation or two.

But there are other segments that were created out of the five-and-dime image. For instance,  the dollar store phenomenon has blossomed with more than 27,000 stores expected to be open in the U.S. by 2010.

However, there is a hipper version of the five-and-dime that I really admire. 5 Below was born in the New Jersey / Philadelphia corridor and now boasts 80 stores on their way to 200. They feature general merchandise in approximately 5-7,000 square feet of strip plaza type space that is targeted to kids and teens. Candy, licensed sports merchandise, t-shirts, stuff to decorate your room, a variety of balls and games that inspire the younger set are all on display in a stuffed store, but one with clear, wide aisles. This concept actually seems closest to the original five-and-dime offering from the early years. Everything is $5 or under as the name suggests and they ensure they keep things fresh and carry only the hottest trends that are available at that price point.

In this economy, these new aged five-and-dimes should thrive. However, from now on, we will have to start calling them five-and-tens owing to the fact that prices have increased 100 fold since the good old days when five-and-dimes were born.

TheRetailTherapist

Black (and Blue) Friday

Yes, all retailers are feeling a bit bruised right now. Amongst the stock market meltdown, the Big 3 automakers in need of a bailout and the trickle down effect of the negative psychological condition of the consumer (job losses, deflation concerns, housing value issues), the mall seemed surreal on what is purportedly the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States.

It’s not that it wasn’t busy – it was. It’s not that people weren’t walking around with shopping bags – they were. It’s not that Santa didn’t show up – he did. And it’s not that the markdowns didn’t work – they seemed to. It was that it seemed strangely like nothing had happened outside the perimeter of the mall parking lots to disturb the activity inside the mall corridors and shops. It did seem less festive a mood, but not by much.

The real problem is it’s a bit of a snowball effect on the negative atmosphere. Once one retailer announces that they are paring back inventory and slashing prices, the dominoes start to fall. That is the nature of this business unfortunately. So, while the Thanksgiving Friday’s sales may be pretty healthy considering the doom and gloom that has been purported, the margins may have suffered big time. That is the primary concern – how much bruising did everyone’s bottom lines take? How much more can they take in case this pall lasts a little longer?

Sales were aggressive this year, but the smart retailers make them pretty aggressive every year to capture the hype and the predisposition to buying that this weekend evokes. The Thanksgiving weekend phenomenon has been receiving an increasing amount of hype over the past few years. Stores have started opening earlier and earlier (with some opening on Thanksgiving Day itself) and more and more people have been seduced into lining up throughout the night to ensure they get the best deals available.

I am all for promotions and excitement, but the caution would be how much is too much? I understand that this year may be an exception, but this issue has been a trend for years. At some point it spoils the consumer – I gather that point has been reached by now.

For now, the holiday windows are bright and cheerful (and occasionally obstructed by sale signs) and the Gap has more colour in the assortment this season, so all is right with the world.

At least they won’t be calling it “Red” Friday this year.

TheRetailTherapist