Who Will Design Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress?

Elva Ramirez was discussing the latest news in England, the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, but more specifically who would design Kate's dress. There were comparisons drawn from the clip explaining that if she were an American princess she would most likely go towards Vera Wang or Oscarde la Renta, two of the top designers for wedding dresses. It was mentioned that designers must be duking it out for who is going to be designing Kate's wedding dress. Some in the past such as Carolyn Bisset Kennedy have chosen non famous designers such as their close friends, which allows them to make a name for themselves. Carolyn was a main reason for Narciso Rodriguez's success.

Who will be designing Kate's wedding dress? Who knows, but i found it interesting because i didn't think about it, but retail, apparel in this case plays such a huge role in so many important events. For example; President Obama's inauguration. There were huge deals about what Michelle Obama was wearing and it continues to come out in magazines and the media. This event is going to be huge for which ever designer get the chance to design Kate's dress.

Information retrieved from:
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-jacky meltzer

Discounters Are Doing Just Fine

The Wall Street Journal reported that TJX Cos.'s earnings rose 7%, revenue increased 5.4% to $5.53 billion, and same store sales increased 1%. President and Chief Executive Carol Meyrowitz also stated that the company's stores have seen an increase in customer traffic.

This is more evidence to support that discounters are the retailers who are seeing success despite decreased consumer confidence resulting from high unemployment and the "sluggish" economy. During this time consumers are still looking for "bargains"and so they shop at "off-price" stores such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls rather than at luxury department stores such as Nordstrom.

The discount sector of the retail industry deserves some attention because it has been experiencing growth despite the economic slow down, maybe even some investment attention.

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Unable to Stretch Further, Apparel Makers Raise Prices

Unless we all want to switch to a different material, it looks like we're going to have to start paying more for clothes as the price of cotton continues to increase. Manufacturers and retailers are scared to make this increase as consumer demand is still back up to where it used to be prior to the recession. Cotton prices have been on the rise for a while, but the industry was extremely hesitant to make the increase along with it. Other industries that utilize raw materials such as rubber, paper, and polyester have been noticing almost identical trends
Retailers like J.C. Penny, Jones, and Carter's Inc. are all discussing ways in which they could avoid the possibility of losing a sale because of the price increase, but there's nothing else that can be done. Retailers with a mix of lines that range in price were hoping to only have to increase prices in the higher price range of apparel, since that target market would notice it less. It'd be a valiant attempt, however, this price increase is too big and has to be dealt with in a bigger way.


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304879604575582673135103404.html?mod=WSJ_Retailing_leftHeadlines

--Leah Stoltz

Wal-Mart Fires Shot in Toy Battle

Toys have always been a huge seller during the holidays mostly because no matter what state the economy is in, parents always end up buying their children toys. Between Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and Toy 'R' Us there is big competition this season in the retailing of toys.
When the Wall Street Journal spoke to Wal-Mart about it's price disadvantage, a week later they came out with a new price list where several of the top toys were shown as research.

There is huge competition, there is no doubt. Being as confident as retailers are about this years holiday season, they are doing everything possible to beat their competitors to get the biggest profit possible.
The good thing about this competition is that prices get lowered each time and it turns out to be a a whole lot better for not only the consumer, but the businesses as well because people will end up buying more.

For more information:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704405704575596920008896164.html?KEYWORDS=Wal-Mart+Fires+Shot+in+Toy+Battle

-Jacky Meltzer

Informational Interview

I interviewed Ben Leigh, who works as a manager of collegiate and grassroots marketing in the brand marketing division at Under Armour in Baltimore.

Leigh is responsible for creating and maintaining relationships with universities and their athletic programs to secure space on the schools' athletic websites and at the schools' athletic events to advertise and market Under Armour products and to ensure that the marketing campaigns displayed at the schools are up to date.

Leigh stated that the company has been hiring more people across all departments because the company has seen growth in recent years. Under Armour offers entry level jobs at the associate level in all departments. While working at the associate level, employees are exposed to many different projects that expose the employees' skills and ambition.

Leigh expressed that he looks for the ability to multitask and adapt to changing situations in job applicants.

Leigh attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and studied sports management. He wanted to pursue a career in professional baseball, so he participated in summer internships in the minor leagues. He also worked in the sales and marketing sector of children's baseball camps. He found his way to Under Armour and has been working there for three and a half years.

Unable to Stretch Further, Apparel Makers Raise Prices

Apparels such as Hanesbrands Inc, Jones Group Inc. and VFCorp. are now shooting up prices up to 10% for next year because cotton has become more expensive. Many third world countries such as Pakistan, India, and China are big producers of cotton, but being hit by mother nature with several floods, retailers such as these can no longer continue to keep their prices low as their raw materials keep increasing. "Apparel is just one of a number of industries caught between sluggish demand and rising costs for raw materials."


Southeast Asia is one of the largest producers of rubber, but due to the Cyclones and flooding Goodyear Tire & Rubber Inc are beginning to feel the lack of raw materials for their companies.  


Just as we thought retail was getting better because the economy was slowly rising, this happens. You can't beat mother nature. I makes sense that if brands such as Hanesbrands can no longer sell as cheaply as they are now, the only alternative is to raise prices and hope that they don't lose their costumers.


-Jacky


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304879604575582673135103404.html

Food Prices Increase

      Prices in food have been rising tremendously over the past couple of months. Many Americans, scared about this raise in food and about high unemployment, have switched supermarkets, and have avoided going out to eat in order to save money. The price in cereals have raised by 5% in the recent months and companies such as Kraft Foods, General Mills, Safeway, have been having to increase process due to the increase in demand. “Costs are being driven by growing demand for meat in China, India and other emerging markets.” Food prices are all affected by this for if you think about it, grain prices go up, which in turn raise the cost of steak, chicken, bread and pasta. Kevin Srigley, the senior vice president at grocer Giant Eagle Inc., states, “ There is a much stronger sensitivity to price than we have ever experienced, but there are some areas you cant afford not to pass on those costs.”

         
        I agree with Srigley when he states that because it is true- it makes sense that prices are raising if the prices of ingredients are raising as well. Even though companies have to make their pricing reasonable, they still have to sell their goods based on the fact of how much they are spending on getting those goods. Do you guys agree with me on that? Or do you think that even though the demand is high, they should manage to price their goods at the lowest price possible? 

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Posted by Tania Dabdoub