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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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SHOPPING LIFE

Can men rescue the holiday shopping season this year? Retailers hope so.

Many stores have remodeled, expanded their men’s departments and added new products and new gifts in an effort to keep men spending through the downturn.

Bloomingdale’s renovated and expanded the men’s tailored clothing floor at its New York flagship. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s say they’re carrying more men’s goods this holiday season.

J. Crew this month opened its second men’s-only store, in Paramus, N.J., just months after opening its first, in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood.

In recent months, designer men’s-only stores have opened in London, from Dolce & Gabbana and Lanvin, and in Los Angeles, from Salvatore Ferragamo.

Luxury-goods makers have a lot riding on men this season. Cartier is launching two men’s watches – a $96,500 Ballon Bleu Flying Tourbillon and a gold watch inspired by the Roadster automobile, ranging from $39,100 to $41,800 – and it introduced its first men’s fragrance in nearly 10 years.

Louis Vuitton is reviving a 120-year-old checkered pattern from the archives, called Damier Graphite, for a new line of men’s luggage, leather goods and accessories. It also has expanded its selection of watches, sweaters, belts and wallets.

Versace this month started selling men’s suit carriers, briefcases and other accessories inspired by the hood of a new $600,000 Lamborghini (Versace and the automaker collaborated on the car).

For the first nine months of the difficult retail-calendar year that began Feb. 3, sales of men’s apparel have risen 1 percent to $4.3 billion from year-earlier levels, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, a MasterCard Inc. service that tracks spending in all payment types.

Sales of women’s apparel, by contrast, have fallen 6 percent to $15.1 billion in the period, MasterCard SpendingPulse data shows. That underscores several years of stronger apparel-sales growth for men and upends the industry’s generally accepted idea of men as unwilling shoppers who ignore trends and rarely spend on impulse.

When consumers cut back on spending in October, the men’s category 8.3 percent drop in sales for that month wasn’t as steep as the 18.2 percent dive that women’s apparel took, MasterCard SpendingPulse says.

Wall Street Journal