BARGAIN HUNTING:Many summer sales have been extended, as shops struggle to shift old stock. Caroline Maddentook to the streets to see what bargains were still available
SHOPAHOLICS BEWARE - just when you thought it was safe to mosey down Grafton Street or pop into your local shopping centre, retailers have not only gone and extended their summer sales, they've made them even more tempting.
Sinking consumer spending has hit shops hard this year, and retailers were banking on the summer sales to get tills ringing. But despite aggressive discounting, the sales have not been entirely successful. A lot of summer stock remains unsold, leaving shops with no choice: the sales must go on.
Retailers have been putting up a brave front, with some advertising that their sales were wrapping up at the end of July. But anyone who fitted in a spot of retail therapy over the bank holiday weekend will have noticed that many sales have been extended and prices slashed in a last-ditch attempt to lure in shoppers and shift old stock.
"In reality, in many instances [ the sales] will run on well into August," says Eddie Shanahan, former director of merchandising and marketing with Arnotts and now a branding, fashion and retail consultant.
Although Clerys' sale officially ended last Sunday, a four-day seasonal stock clearance event begins on Thursday, promising discounts of up to 70 per cent. In the midland's top shopping destination, Athlone Towncentre, many retailers are continuing their sales. Melie O'Mahony, owner of the upmarket Melie B boutique in Limerick, intends to run their sale for another two weeks.
O'Mahony notes that this year, for the first time, many designers are bridging the gap between the two main fashion seasons (spring/summer and autumn/ winter) by producing "pre-collections" which are now arriving into her store. Because of this, Melie B is attracting a mixture of regulars eager to check out the new collections and bargain hunters searching for a find in the end-of-season stock.
But what will happen to all those floral maxi dresses and star-print tops now clogging up sale racks in stores across the country if their rock-bottom prices fail to attract buyers? When the sales end, some retailers will take this stock off the floor and put it into storage, Shanahan says. Most will try to find a way to sell it over the course of the coming season. So don't be surprised if you encounter that dip-dyed dress that seemed so of-the-moment a few months ago languishing forlornly on discount rails in a shop corner in the months ahead.
Retailers have also been known to resort to rather more underhand ways of flogging old stock.
"Some actually mark it back up and put it back on as a full-price item," says Shanahan.
That would explain why some "new" items adorning window displays at the moment bear a surprising resemblance to pieces being sold last winter.
Even when the prolonged summer sales eventually wind down, further sales can be expected. "You're going to have shops having stocktaking sales, for example," Shanahan says. Shopaholics would be well advised to keep those credit cards locked away for some time yet.