Asif Husain straightens a suit that is rumpled on the rack. He then turns
to look out the mall entrance and waits for customers to arrive. Husain is
a fashion buyer and retailer. "We cater to the mature market. You won't find
any sweatshirts or things that a teenager would probably want to wear."
Husain always keeps his customer in mind -- especially when he visits trade
shows. "Yellows, oranges and French blue are going to be in next year, but
I have to think about whether those colors will sell here."
Buyers select clothes a year ahead of when they'll sell them. That makes
buying decisions pretty tough. "It's a guessing game," he says. "You just
never know what's going to sell."
Sometimes Husain can't keep a style on the rack, while other clothes remain
untouched. Last year he carried a soft-cotton rugby shirt with dress-shirt
style sleeves. "It just didn't catch on. People are basically creatures of
habit and couldn't conceive of how to wear it." And even Husain admits the
buying error: "It was a strange mixture."
Erin Meagher is a footwear fashion buyer for a chain that has stores throughout
the United States. She also knows that it's hard to know what's going to sell.
"There's always a surprise."
This year Meagher was amazed to see the basic pump, which is usually a
hot seller, stay on the rack. "They're a lot slower moving because women are
wearing chunkier, bigger shoes -- even with their suits."
However, Meagher guessed that the chunky-heeled shoe might be a big seller
this year, and decided to test the market with a few samples. "A couple of
styles that were more in fashion, like the loafer with ornaments and the chunky-heeled
shoes, sold out in three weeks." Her experiment was a success, but now she's
faced with trying to bring in more of the shoes that are long sold out.
That's where Meagher has more difficulties than other shoe retailers. Because
she works for a chain that caters to tall women, she has to look for bigger
sizes. "Most manufacturers don't make as many larger sizes, and so it's often
hard to get a hold of them."
Customers of Meagher's store have an easier time because manufacturers
actually make the clothes according to their specifications. In other stores,
a size six will be shorter in length than a size 20. However, at Meagher's
store, all sizes have full-length sleeves and legs. "Manufacturers will custom
make these clothes for us."
This doesn't happen in the shoe market. "There's less leeway in the shoe
market," says Meagher. "Because they are usually made in Italy or Spain, we
have no say in the fit."
Because of this limitation, Meagher has more pressure on her to predict
what will be hot sellers. Over the years she's found one reliable sell: "Black
is always our number one performer. I always buy black."
Terry Hughes is a fashion buyer and retail store owner in Atlanta. She
reads fashion magazines and follows trends, but doesn't worry too much about
what fashions will be out the following year.
"Really, the fashion designers keep up on all that," she says. "When you
go into one showroom and see something you like and then see it in every single
store -- then you know what's in."
Hughes takes her cue from designers, but she also makes sure she caters
to a specific crowd, and isn't just bringing in what every other shop has
hanging on its rack.
Even if a fashion buyer knows their customer, it can still
be difficult to buy. "You have to magically forecast the future and be a mind-reader,"
says Jane Cooley, who buys for a children's store.
Cooley believes she's more fortunate because baby styles don't change as
often as adult fashions. "However, toddlers and young children's fashions
change just as rapidly," she says.
Because the children's clothing market is much smaller than the adults,
Cooley visits with suppliers rather than go shopping at a trade show. "That
makes a lot of legwork," she says. "But seeing some child in an outfit you
picked out makes it worth all the trouble."