Clothes down, shoes up
There's been no major rush for shopping clothes so far this pre Christmas season, at least not according to Svensk Handel Stil, which took a closer look at Christmas shopping. Their numbers show, that between December 1 and December 19 sales of clothes dropped with 3.2% compared to the same period last year, while sales of shoes increased 15% compared to same period last year. Shoes aren’t your typical Christmas present, but the shoe business took quite an upward leap thanks to all the snow, says Mikael Sandström, trade chairman at Svensk Handel Stil (Swedish Trade Federation). The clothing business is fighting an uphill battle, though. “The days between Christmas and New Year’s are perfect calendar-wise for successful sales,” he says. “I believe the shoe sales therefore will show at least the same increase for all of December, while sales in clothes are more uncertain. There’s less access to sales warehouses than last year, on the other hand all days off may give a push even to the clothing sales. My tip for the clothing business is that they catch up what they’ve lost and end on zero.”