The Weakened Dollar; Stronger Euro Helps the NY Retail Scene
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“There’s no question that [the tourists] are helping our New York performance by a few percentage points….If you walk the New York store, you hear the number of foreign accents. We’ve seen people walking around the store with empty suitcases and heard about a group of women from Iceland who chartered a jet to come and shop our new shoe floor. The U.S. is on sale. It’s a bargain for the European customer.”
–Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and chief executive officer of Saks Inc to WWD
Despite the sluggish economy and the housing slump, the New York retail scene is booming. Thanks to tourists, who are armed with a strong euro and a voracious appetite for apparel, NY retailers are surviving through the wariness of domestic consumers.
Just as Jay-Z is throwing euros instead of dollars in his latest video, the strong euro is encouraging tourists to come to the city and buy, buy, buy. The strength of the euro is turning deals into steals for the foreign customer.
This should help the retail scene in New York, which has already suffered from unseasonably warm temperatures earlier in the season. An extended Indian Summer left many New Yorkers getting more mileage out of their summer gear, instead of hitting the stores building a fall wardrobe.
Foreign travelers seem to be readily stepping up to the plate, keeping sales of clothing buoyant. Tourists are not just heading to the fast-fashion meccas but to high-end retailers like Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barney’s New York.
Hooray for the Weak Dollar: Flood of Tourists Boosts Retailers’ Holiday Traffic [WWD]
"There's no question that [the tourists] are helping our New York performance by a few percentage points....If you walk the New York store, you hear the number of foreign accents. We've seen people walking around the store with empty suitcases and heard about a group of women from Iceland who chartered a jet to come and shop our new shoe floor. The U.S. is on sale. It's a bargain for the European customer." --Stephen I. Sadove, chairman and chief executive officer of Saks ... Read More
