DROP PANTS PRICES

Connor, Broadway. This menswear store (chain) looks to be in serious trouble. Owned by the Retail Apparel Group (which also owns other menswear chains Tarocash and Yd) they are continually having to drop their price points. A month or two ago, they even advertised their sustained new, lower prices ('Look New Prices'), which I thought was a questionable strategy. Now, they are still well into sale mode when most other apparel retailers are out of it. Also, the price points on their sale merchandise just seem to get more ridiculous by the week. For example, the sale rack (now advertised at $19.95), was previously $29.95, and the original RRPs on the goods were probably north of $39.95 and $49.95. Also, the table, front and centre, which is the most valuable merchandising space in the store, is given over to $29.95 sale merchandise, as opposed to new arrivals, which one would expect to see in stores at this time. I don't believe the numbers can be adding up ok for this operator which pays mall rents and labour costs. I suspect their pricing strategy has not helped their situation. Watch this space.