Spring is the time when shorter skirts and warmer temperatures can induce amorous impulses — and so it is in the business of fashion, where players on the mergers and acquisitions scene are starting to come out of winter's freeze.

Potential acquirers, though, might spend a few more months playing the field as price tags on targets drop and the consumer and financial markets settle down.

But the bankers and consultants who act as the industry's matchmakers see plenty of opportunities for further consolidation this year and next.

"Retailers throughout the world are dusting off old books, reviewing the competitive U.S. retail landscape and evaluating potential opportunities," said Ian Sugarman, a director in the consumer investment banking group at Citigroup Global Markets. "That goes across the board in every segment of retail. These conversations are happening today."

Sugarman described the M&A landscape as a "generational opportunity" where the dollar is at an historical trough, retail stocks are near the lows of previous economic slowdowns and retailers are better positioned so they're more desirable than in the past.

All this adds up to an opportunity to buy more for less.

There is also some pent-up demand in the system given the lack of activity.

Global retail M&A deals announced in the first quarter were valued at $19.75 billion, down 68.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Dealogic. Within that category, the value of apparel and shoe store deals dropped 45.6 percent to $2.74 billion, while department store deals decreased 21.9 percent to $1.79 billion.

The value of U.S. retail deals fell 87.1 percent to $2.68 billion in the first quarter.

Suitors calling on Seventh Avenue and the nation's retailers, though, are now more likely to look like the boy next door than the downtown Wall Street type who was making everyone's heart thump last year.

In the lexicon of deal making, this means "strategics," or companies looking to augment their current businesses, are going to beat out private equity groups that can no longer afford to borrow as much money thanks to the credit crunch.

"Strategics will replace private equity funds as major buyers of retail and apparel businesses over the next year," said Peter J. Solomon, founder and chairman of his eponymous investment banking firm.