Paris — Holiday cheer has spread slowly on the Continent this year, but retailers in Europe finally are reporting some yuletide sales heat as frantic shoppers crowd stores in search of deep discounts.
Department stores such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette here have 50 percent sales on many items, with similar discounts on clothes and accessories across France and elsewhere in Europe.
Yet retailers said customers still anticipate — and appear ready to wait for — even greater savings, making the last-minute dash particularly nerve-wracking.
“Shoppers want to wait until the last moment to take advantage of discounts,” said Institut Francais de la Mode in a trading update on Tuesday. The first two weeks of the month were particularly “calm” for retailers here, IFM added.
Apparel sales across the Continent have been lackluster, suffering early this fall from unusually warm weather. The economy across most of the 25-member European Union has disappointed this year, with consumer spending down and worry widespread about the future. Sales of women’s ready-to-wear in France, for example, fell 10 percent in November, according to IFM.
In England, analysts at Lehman Bros. said the “recent cold snap has boosted clothing sales and may have allowed retailers who overbought to clear some excess stock.”
British retailers reported better traffic last week. Footfall, a retail monitor, said 7.7 percent more shoppers went out last week compared with the previous week — though those numbers still were down 4.2 percent versus last year.
Some retailers are in better situations than others. Lehman said Britain’s Marks & Spencer looked well positioned to “continue to trade well” with a focus on full-price sales.
Fast-fashion firms such as Hennes & Mauritz of Sweden and Spain’s Inditex, which runs Zara, also are thought by retail analysts to be outperforming competitors.
And luxury remains a bright spot, too.
At London’s upmarket fashion emporium Harvey Nichols, buyer Coco Chan said numbers have increased steadily.
“This has been a very strong season for us,” she said, adding that brands such as Chloé, Dries Van Noten and Alexander McQueen have done best.
Chan said outerwear made a sharp upturn at the store in recent weeks, as colder weather had taken hold. The store does not introduce markdowns until after Christmas, and Chan said that recent deliveries of spring-summer collections had boosted sales.
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Christine Samain, fashion director at Paris’ Bon Marché, run by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, said the upscale store had “excellent” first week December sales and that momentum continued to be brisk.
“Since mid-November, when the weather turned cold, we’ve been doing extremely well,” she said. Cashmere sweaters, cocktail dresses from Chloé and Diane von Furstenberg and high-end accessories performed best.
“Our position is excellent,” she said. “We’ve been selling without markdowns.”
Not everyone is as upbeat. Cedric Charbit, general merchandise manager at Printemps, said the PPR-owned store only recently felt an uptick.
Last weekend, sales increased 17 percent Saturday and 19 percent on Sunday compared with the same days last year, he said.
“Christmas is starting later than usual,” he said. “It’s slower. People are spending less. They are buying gifts for fewer people.”
“The gifts people are buying are smaller, and more creative,” he said, citing candles, jewelry or wallets engraved with initials.
Charbit said the store had seen a “significant” increase in gift certificate sales and that the best-selling expensive items were jewelry and watches.
Clothing sales are slow, he said, and deep discounts are in full swing.
Elsewhere in Europe, signs are mixed, with most reporting slow clothing sales, but stronger numbers in electronics and luxury accessories.
In Germany, department store chain Karstadt reported a strong yule start, with sales in the first week of December gaining 13 percent, said the group’s chairman, Thomas Middelhoff.
A Karstadt spokesman said sales since have been “pleasing” and “in line” with plan, suggesting similar double digit gains would continue.
Last weekend’s business was strong, he said, with solid sales of regular-priced goods. Electronics and toys sold best, with shoppers paying premiums for the latest technology in game consoles, cameras and MP3 players.
Apparel has been mixed, with scarves, gloves and coats recently accelerating with the arrival of colder weather. Winter sports apparel sales are solid, while beauty had a “good” start of the month, but has tapered off some since.
In Italy, consumers continue to be weighed down by their low spending power, a product of the slow economy. Generally, they are opting for useful products, or books and CDs. But, conversely, luxury isn’t suffering.
Stores reported strong accessories sales, especially luxury shoes and bags, but weaker sales of apparel.
Michele Giglio, owner of six boutiques in Palermo, reported brisk sales of bags, hats, scarves and belts.
“In terms of handbags, Gucci is our top seller, followed by Prada and Fendi,” she said, adding that Roger Vivier has done “surprisingly” well, too.
“We are selling a lot less apparel compared to last year,” she said. “There simply is not much demand for eveningwear or special items for New Year’s Eve.”
All told, Giglio said, thanks to luxury accessories, sales at her stores are up 19 percent over last year.
Toni Tanfani, owner of two Gisa stores in central Italy, also reported strong sales of handbags — as well as a building rush of clients over the last couple of days.
“Sales this Christmas are quite good,” she said. “Accessories and bags are our bestsellers. Balenciaga and Chloé are the new best-selling, trendy bags.”
— With contributions from Melissa Drier, Berlin; Luisa Zargani, Milan, and Nina Jones, London