Warm and rainy weather is slowing fall clothing sales.
Warm October weather is causing slow clothing sales in the United Kingdom, and there has been warm weather across much of the northern United States and Canada also. With warm or mild weather, people can continue to wear summer clothes, then can go almost directly from their summer wardrobe to winter, with no need to buy any new fall clothes. Retailers, then, are stuck with a fall inventory they can’t sell.
Shoppers might have been buying fall clothing in August and September, but unusually rainy weather including tropical storms kept many shoppers at home during that period. Clothing is less visible when it is raining, and rainy weather takes much of the fun out of shopping. Hurricane warnings have a psychological impact, making clothing seem less important.
Higher clothing prices are also a deterrent for consumers. Shoppers might have glanced at the fall clothing racks, but didn’t make many impulse purchases because of the high prices.
