The recession has chilled the spending of even high-end customers. Unity Marketing, a luxury consumer research firm based in Stevens, Pa., provided WWD with a look at the top, midtier and discount stores where consumers with annual incomes of $250,000 or more said they’ve been shopping. “The stigma attached with shopping down-market is gone,” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing.
Below is a list of the top 18 stores where high-income consumers say they have been shopping.
department-stores
department-stores
March 19, 2009
WWD List: Spending Habits
The top stores where high-income consumers say they have been shopping.
department-stores/news
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10. NEIMAN MARCUS
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 16.4 percent
The high-end retailer is feeling the impact of luxury consumers’ lower spending. Burt Tansky, chairman and ceo, said last week: “The aspirational customer has a strong desire for luxury merchandise, but [her] financial capability is not as secure as it has been.”
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11. J.C. PENNEY
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 14.2 percent
“J.C. Penney has been working to up its ‘cool’ factor,” Danziger said. Both Charlotte Ronson’s I [Heart] Ronson by Charlotte Ronson line and Nicole Miller’s Nicole by Nicole Miller collection can be found here, and cosmetics chain Sephora has placed stores in about 100 Penney’s locations nationwide.
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12. LORD & TAYLOR
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 12.5 percent
This store offers names such as Nicole Miller, BCBG Max Azria and Calvin Klein. Lord & Taylor recently cut 170 employees. The reductions were in addition to 120 layoffs in October. The combined 290 positions are about 3.5 percent of the chain’s workforce of 9,000.
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13. SAKS FIFTH AVENUE
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 12.3 percent
Saks unveiled a redesign last month of a 3,600-square-foot section of its contemporary department in the Manhattan flagship. Chairman and ceo Stephen I. Sadove told WWD last month that the economic and retail landscape is “perhaps the most challenging that the company has faced in its 84-year history.”
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14. DILLARD’S
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 11.5 percent
Brands offered within Dillard’s 320 stores nationwide include: Cole Haan, Kenneth Cole New York, Ray-Ban, Polo Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani and Burberry. For the three months ended Jan. 31, Dillard’s reported a net loss of $149.3 million.
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15. SEARS
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 11.1 percent
Sears is trying to push big sales on its Web site. The retailer is offering 15 percent off all Kenmore and Kenmore Elite appliances, along with $25 off orders of $250 or more within its Lawn & Garden category. In January, parent company Sears Holdings Corp. announced fourth-quarter Sears Domestic comparable-store sales declined 11 percent.
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16. BARNEYS NEW YORK
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 7.2 percent
David Jackson, ceo of Istithmar, the Dubai-based parent of Barneys New York, told WWD this month that the luxury store is not for sale, hopes to resolve its issues with factors and intends to have a new ceo in place by midyear.
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17. KMART
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 6.9 percent
This 1,400-store chain relaunched its shoe departments nationwide on Jan. 1 after ending a more than 30-year relationship with former licensee Footstar Corp. Parent company Sears Holdings Corp. said for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, Kmart’s comparable-store sales declined 5 percent.
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18. BERGDORF GOODMAN
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 5.8 percent
Parent company Neiman Marcus Inc. reported that for February, Bergdorf’s comparable-store sales fell 24.2 percent. “In order to stimulate sales and reduce our inventory levels, we were much more promotional than in prior years,” Neiman’s Tansky said.
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01
TARGET
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 46.2 percent
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02
COSTCO
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 39.5 percent
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03
MACY’S
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 38.6 percent
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04
NORDSTROM
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 31.9 percent
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05
WAL-MART
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 25.9 percent
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06
KOHL’S
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 20.6 percent
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07
BLOOMINGDALE’S
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 19.3 percent
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08
T.J. MAXX
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 18.6 percent
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09
SAM’S CLUB
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 18.2 percent
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10
NEIMAN MARCUS
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 16.4 percent
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11
J.C. PENNEY
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 14.2 percent
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12
LORD & TAYLOR
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 12.5 percent
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13
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 12.3 percent
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14
DILLARD’S
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 11.5 percent
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15
SEARS
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 11.1 percent
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16
BARNEYS NEW YORK
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 7.2 percent
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17
KMART
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 6.9 percent
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18
BERGDORF GOODMAN
Percent who have shopped here in the past year 5.8 percent
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