In politics, appearance is everything. And for politicians’ wives, looking great for the cameras is key, whether its the Jackie Kennedy-influenced sheaths favored by Michelle Obama, or the bold, jewel-tone colors Cindy McCain sported at the GOP convention this week.

And for designers, having your outfits worn by a potential First Lady certainly can’t hurt. Witness the press (and extra sales) generated for Chico’s White House Black Market chain after Michelle Obama wore a black and white scoop-neck day dress from the retailer during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
    
Chico’s could use the lift, given over a year of dwindling sales at its main chain that caters to women over the age of 40. Earlier this week, it announced an endorsement deal with Debbie Phelps, who it said wore its clothes the whole time she was in Beijing cheering her son, Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

Now, Wall Street is wondering who is next to endorse a brand.
    
“If Michelle Obama is boosting White House Black Market sales and Chico’s is paying Debbie Phelps to pose for its catalogs, doesn’t it make sense that Gymboree or Children’s Place hire Sarah Palin as spokesperson for their brands?” asked JP Morgan retail analyst Brian Tunick in his monthly “Tunick’s Top 10″ list to clients.

Other possibilities for Palin could be Uggs boots (it’s cold in Alaska), or Lenscrafters (a story on the candidate’s rimless, titanium pair that did not come from the lower-cost glasses chain ran in USA Today). 

Other suggestions?

(Photo: Reuters)

The latest example of U.S. inflation seems likely to come from 99 Cents Only Stores, the Western retailer that stocks everything from canned beans to cleaning supplies, party favors and fresh vegetables — all for 99 cents or under.
    
On Monday, the City of Commerce, California-based company, with 277 stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada, will announce what it calls “its first change to its price policy since its founding over 25 years ago.” The Los Angeles Times said this was most likely a precursor to price hikes.

99 Cents Only Stores isn’t fessing up just yet, but chances are prices won’t be getting any lower, given the rising price of food staples like milk, eggs and bread that the company sells.
    
The company’s most recent ad announces deals like 99 cent cantaloupes, Hannah Montana notebooks, microwave popcorn and reading glasses.
    
99 Cents Only Stores posted a net loss of $1.51 million in its most recent quarter despite a 4 percent rise in sales from a year-ago net profit of $2.96 million. Profit was hurt by rising operating expenses and higher cost of sales.

“We would like to assure our wonderful customers that they can continue to depend on 99 Cents Only Stores to have the best values on quality merchandise including food and other basic household items,” said Chief Executive Eric Schiffer in a statement.

The big question: If prices rise, what happens to the store’s name?

Check out what it costs National Football League fans to attend games.

The latest NFL season got under way Thursday night as the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants opened their season with a win (pictured right). For their fans, there were some changes that affected their wallets.

The average ticket price to attend an NFL game rose almost 8 percent to $72.20, according to Team Marketing Report, a Chicago-area sports marketing firm. And if a family of four wants to take in a game played by the Giants, get ready to shell out almost $500 for tickets, beers, hot dogs and other items.

The increases are de rigueur nowadays as the various North American leagues continue to report record attendance and revenues, but cracks may be starting to appear as some fans have begun dialing back spending amid high prices for gasoline and food, and rising unemployment.

As long as the market will bear it, however, fans of the NFL and other professional sports will have to budget for the increases if they want their game-day fix.

Also in the basket:

Altria in advanced talks to buy UST: source

Economic woes set tone for spring NY Fashion Week

Saks gets cold shoulder on Iceland buy (New York Post)

(Photo: Reuters)

Sparks flew at an investor conference when a male retail analyst asked Coach Chief Executive Lew Frankfort a question that has confounded men for ages — how many handbags do women really need?

Here’s the transcript from that exchange:

Analyst: What is the pantry load or the handbag inventory of most women? And what happens to older handbags? Obviously women pay quite a lot of money for them. I’m just wondering how many they keep… I mean, can there be a significant detriment to sales in the future, just because there are a lot of handbags in women’s closets?

Frankfort: Let me ask you, are there any women in your life that you might be able to ask how many handbags are too many? Most of us men in the audience know that women do spend, and we see it in all of our homes. In terms of how much is too much? It’s a theoretical question.

We also have a very large segment of America who do not own Coach bags, and we continue to bring new consumers in to our franchise at a very attractive rate, and what women tend to do with bags is they retire the bags. They go to a place deep into the closet, and they purchase a new one, and that’s the reality.  I’m not sure where you are traveling with your questions.

Analyst:  I’m traveling towards a consumer retrenchment and how people are going to retrench, and what their inventory of handbags may be for whenever the right occasion comes up. It’s — you know, we’re in uncharted (territory) here economically.

Frankfort: Everything is uncharted. Everything is empirical, starting with this very moment. What you need to do is make calculated bets based on what you know, and what you think. And if you are bearish on handbags, be bearish.

At that point, a female Coach executive cut in: I have never heard a man say, I am so sick of my black wallet, I need a red one. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard women say, I have to have this year’s red handbag.
So it’s a perceived need for a woman …  I have to say something as the woman at the table.

So, how many handbags (or wallets) do you have stashed away?

(Photo: Reuters)

Upscale department store Nordstrom continues to have trouble finding a suitable site to open its first Manhattan venue.

Seattle-based Nordstrom said Thursday it wants to expand into one of the world’s most lucrative markets. But the high price of island real estate and lack of appropriate venues has hampered efforts, Nordstrom’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Koppel told analysts at the Goldman Sachs conference.

“A great location means a lot of top-line business, but a very high cost of occupancy,” Koppel said.

Also, “a great location usually doesn’t mean you get the kind of floor plate you like,” meaning Nordstrom would have to reconfigure an existing older building instead of new construction tailored to its needs.

“We’re still very interested, but want to be very prudent because it’s a big investment and we want to make sure we do right,” Koppel said. 

Nordstrom is reportedly looking for around 200,000 square feet in an upscale area with nearby public transportation. In May the company hired a retail real estate consulting and brokerage firm to help it find suitable a Manhattan location.

Nordstrom was reportedly interested in the former Drake Hotel on the northwest corner of 56th and Park earlier this year, but the building’s developer had financing troubles and the deal fell through.

That deal would have given Nordstrom an entrance on 57th Street, and desirable exposure to nearby upscale retailers such as Prada, Burberry and Dior.

Check out the same old sales story. 
 
Wal-Mart and other discounters: good. Saks and other high-priced retailers: bad.
 
The pattern seen over the past several months held again for August as cash-strapped consumers sought back-to-school bargains. 
 
Generally speaking, it’s bad form for little Johnny to show up for school naked and without notebooks and pens and pencils. So parents have to shop at least a little bit when school starts.
 
But as expected, they shopped where they could save money.
 
Back-to-school season can also set the trend for the key holiday shopping season. So the question becomes whether this will be a discount Christmas.
 
Employers are cutting back as much as they can, in order to be more profitable. That has led to a huge jump in productivity, but at the expense of jobs.
 
The August jobs report on Friday is expected to show that employers continued their job cutting in August.
 
Not a great sign for holiday cheer.
 
Also in the basket:
 
U.S. chicken industry still hurting - Sanderson farms
 
Polman a surprise pick to revive Unilever fortunes

When it comes to luxury handbags , wealthy American women view Leiber bags as the most prestigious,  but most often buy Coach, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by a research firm called The Luxury Institute, found Leiber scored highest on its “Luxury Brand Status Index”, which includes measurements for quality, exclusivity, social status and self-enhancement (meaning the brand can make the buyer feel special).

Tied for second out of thirty luxury brands included in the survey were Hermes and Tod’s, followed by Jimmy Choo, Bottega Veneta and Valentino.

While those brands scored the highest in terms of perception, here are the brands that survey respondents said they purchased most frequently in the past 12 months.

Coach was far and away the bag purchased most frequently, according to 25.7 percent of respondents, according to the survey. A distant second and third were Kate Spade, with 4.6 percent, and Gucci, with 4.1 percent.

Coach was also the bag the biggest number of respondents (27.4 percent) said they would buy the next time they purchased a bag, followed by Kate Spade and Louis Vuitton.

Wonder if that has to do with the brand’s familiarity? When asked “which of the following brands are you familiar with”, 74 percent of the survey’s more than 1,000 women with annual incomes over $150,000 said they knew of Coach.

Compare that with only 11 percent for Tod’s and 10 percent for Leiber.

It looks like exclusivity really does lead to prestige.

(Photo: From Leiber website: “Exotically styled bag made of crocodile with magnetic flap closure and Austrian crystal trim” $5995.00)

    Consumer products and retail executive spoke at conferences hosted by, respectively, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs on Wednesday. Here is some of what they had to say:

    “There is no option not to take price,” — David Moran, president and CEO, Heinz North America, said on the the likelihood of more price increases.
    
    “The macroeconomic conditions will be worse than they were 12 months ago. Our expectation is for caution,” — Tim Boyle, chief  executive of Columbia Sportswear, when asked how the environment six to 12 months ahead looks to the sportswear and outerwear maker.
    
    “We think that despite what is happening in the environment, to neglect your store base and not keep it competitive is the wrong thing to do,”  — Kohl’s Chairman Larry Montgomery on the department store’s is commitment to remodel 36 stores in 2008 and about 60 in 2009, as well as opening 50 new stores next year.
    
    “We don’t think it’s as dire as other people are saying. We’re fairly resistant. Eighty-five percent of our sales are in RX (prescriptions). The remainder are in toothpaste and deodorant and hopefully people will keep buying those.” –    Thomas Ryan CVS Caremark chief executive and board president.

    “No company’s ever shrank to greatness,” –  Molson Coors Brewing Co’s chief executive Peter Swinburn in explaining that cost cuts are important, but can not be a company’s only strategy. 

Check out Kraft’s new international strategy.
 
Sanjay Khosla, the president of Kraft International, gave Reuters a sneak preview of the strategy, which is being unveiled today at an analyst conference.
 
The focus is on 10 countries or regions: Brazil, China, Russia, southeast Asia, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Germany.
 
The focus is also on 10 brands, including some expected ones, like Oreos, and some that could be surprising to U.S. consumers: Tang and Philadelphia. The breakfast drink and the cream cheese are big brands overseas.
 
Khosla, a former Unilever executive, was hired by Kraft in 2007 to boost a flagging international business. Month later, the company acquired Danone’s cookie and cracker business.
 
Khosla stressed that Kraft is not forcing its practices on the Danone business, but taking the best of both companies.
 
“We don’t Kraftize Danone and we don’t Danonize Kraft.”
 
Kraft is also allowing its local managers more freedom to make decisions based on local tastes, at least within reason, Khosla said.
 
“What you can’t do is come up with a pink Oreo,” he said.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Coca-Cola buys Chinese juice maker for $2.5 billion
 
Wal-Mart upbeat on Asia drive amid U.S. woes

J.C.  Penney, Kohl’s August same-store sales fall

(Reuters phtoto)

Got an old suit gathering dust in the back of your closet? Men’s Wearhouse wants to give it to someone who could make better use of it.

The retailer is holding a national suit drive at 580 of its U.S. locations, collecting donations of used suits, sport coats, slacks, dress shirts, ties and belts. The clothing will be distributed to more than 120 local and regional non-profit organizations in cities across the country and given to men in need who are re-entering the workforce.

“The proper attire can truly make a difference in an individual’s life,” said Jerri Rosen, founder of Working Wardrobes in Fountain Valley, California, in a statement released by Men’s Wearhouse. “With these donations, men will have the opportunity to walk into an interview with confidence - an essential step toward economic stability.”

Other companies that have participated in clothing drives include Dress Barn, Robert Half International and Hilton Hotels. Perhaps other retailers will follow suit?

(Photo/Reuters)