By Marie Marra

School-aged children and parents are doing their annual back-to-school rituals:

 Subject notebooks, pencils, pens and folders: Check.
 List clothes and shoes that still fit; Fill in gaps with new sale-priced clothes: Check.
 Replace last year’s tired lunch box: Check.
 Find the latest knapsack, book bag, backpack, messenger bag, over-sized purse: Not Yet.

Off-price, overstock and surplus resellers of school supplies and carry-alls are past the buying season for this academic year. Then, maybe this is the year of repeat shoppers.

All students need to tote homework, books and papers. Teen girls look for a little extra style and space for personal care items. Everyone wants to be packing the “it” look.

The opportunity here is that this Bag Business isn’t settled yet in the schoolyard.

Internet behemoth Google Inc. is being sued by American Airlines for the unauthorized use of trademarks and services identifying the airline to Internet users, according to a complaint filed on August 16.

Google’s search engine is allegedly helping third parties to mislead consumers and misappropriate the American Airlines marks by using them as keyword triggers for paid advertisements.

“In working through this business dispute, American is hopeful that it will continue professional, friendly and fruitful relationships with Google, while finding an appropriate resolution to the trademark issues,” said an American Airlines representative in a prepared statement. Google did not return their calls. Google’s trademark policy states, “Google will not disable keywords in response to a trademark complaint.”

Lead counsel for this lawsuit, Terence P. Ross, is no stranger to keyword lawsuits. He worked on similar suits for clients including Wells Fargo and 1-800 Contacts. Ross was not available for comment.

OFF-PRICE SPECIALIST SHOW
August 24-28
Sands Expo & Convention Center
Las Vegas
The largest Off-Price Apparel Show in the Industry.

Attention all apparel retailers: Mark your calendars! The Off-Price Specialist Show is the premiere show for off-price apparel and accessories, and it’s happening August 24-28 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. The wholesalers and jobbers at the show carry men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel 20-70% below the original manufacturer’s wholesale price.

This August, complete your fashion week with these new additions to the show:

• T.O.P.S. (The very best of the Off-Price Specialist Show) will highlight fashions from around the show floor.
• “The Oasis”, the newly remodeled buyers lounge, will provide a relaxing atmosphere for all buyers, as well as feature the “What’s Hot in Off-Price” fashion slideshow.

U.S. flag sales are apparently on the rebound according to many retailers. Flag sales hit record levels after the September 11th terrorist attacks of 2001 and again shortly after the Iraq war began in 2003, but sales already started to slump by 2004. Now it seems flag sales are picking up again. Many believe that this year’s steady sales are fueled by regular Memorial Day and Independence Day purchases plus the replacement of worn flags from those peak sale times. Others see sales as a direct result of increased support for U.S. troops. Whatever the reason behind it is, more Americans are buying flags these days.

It’s extremely important that the major media channels work together to promote their products and services, especially when it comes to trade show attendance. Trade shows can serve as great communications tools fostering awareness of one’s brand and also for the purposes of networking. All too often media heavyweights view each other as competitors when in fact they should be networking and looking at one another as partners. When it comes down to it, different media channels provide different services to customers, but with similar goals in mind, they’re truly not that different. Their common goal is to create an optimal marketing program that will sell the most product while simultaneously keeping the customers happy. Simple enough, right?

By Crystal Silvas

Based in Los Angeles, California, the fashion hub of the West, 1bestdeal4less.com is your source for all of your wholesale women’s apparel needs. Specializing in clothing styles that cater to younger women, they truly have it all: fashionable tops, t-shirts, halter-tops, strapless tops, capris, pants, dresses, sports wear, plus size tops, jeans and plus size capris. They even offer accessories like earrings, bracelets and necklaces, and their prices won’t break the bank.

They have access to very large quantities of top-notch, high-fashion, close-out and off-price missy and junior apparel which is why they are able to offer such amazing deals. They offer an incredible assortment of close-out jeans that are sure to turn heads, and their stylish dresses come in a variety of bold colors and patterns. Prefer a more classic style? Search no more: they offer that too. Long-waisted t-shirts are all the rage with young women today, especially those embellished with embroidery or snazzy silk-screens. The vintage look is really hot too. Find t-shirts like the ones listed above in all colors and styles right now at 1bestdeals4less.com.

By Mercedes Gonzalez

WOMEN’S

Let’s Get Physical
Stripes, bright colors, layered jersey tees, pleated skirts, stretch mesh, platform sneakers, and even accessories like whistles, visors, and knee-high sports socks all compete this “sporty” trend.

Embellished Craft
Use of jewels, studs, beads, and metallic discs was seen heavily on the runway this past spring. This trend will translate into more mainstream brands next spring. Think 80s bedazzled sweaters.

Summer Suit
It’s not your classic suit by any means. After all, the summer is about great prints, short shorts, and fun colors. Bermudas with cuffed hems are a bit more conservative paired with a tailored blazer. One piece overall shorts are also making a comeback and are being paired with silk blouses.

Wide Leg
Whether we are talking balloon shapes or tailored pants, hems are cuffed to keep the look tamed. The fabric here is jersey! Wide leg “trouser” jeans are also hot.

By T. J. Reid

Offering a sincere “thank you” is part of the repertoire of every successful retailer. These two words go a long way toward creating the customer’s final impression of you and your store as she walks out the door and heads home. And a “thank you” can also be the two words that draw her back to your store.
Here are a couple of clever “thank you” promotions that are sure to generate goodwill.

Extending a Hand of Thanks
This interesting and successful promotion uses gloves to create goodwill and draw customers into your store. With this promotion, you can use either inexpensive or more expensive gloves—your call—and you can use one of several different messages in the letter you send to your customers.
Here’s how it works: Find a vendor at, say, the Off-Price Specialist Show and buy gloves for your best and most loyal customers. Divide each pair, put one glove into an envelope and send it to the customer with a letter saying, for example, “I’d like to extend a hand of thanks for all your…” or “Hand in hand we can build your fall wardrobe…” or “It takes two to make a great pair; your other glove is waiting for you at…”

By Patrick G. Clifford

This past March, San Francisco-based Javelin Strategy & Research released Data Breaches and Buyer Behavior: Moving PCI Compliance from Costly Burden to Competitive Advantage, a research report with findings that should have startled any retailer.
The nationwide survey of 1,200 credit and debit cardholders found that, in cases where little is known about a data breach, half of all consumers automatically consider the merchants where they shop to be at fault.

When it comes to protecting consumer data, retailers and merchants are viewed as least secure by 63% of consumers, followed by processors (16%), card networks like Visa or MasterCard (5%), and issuers (5%).

Most distressing of all, 77% of consumers intend to stop shopping at merchants that experience a data breach.

Twice a year in February and August, the fashion industry gathers in Las Vegas for a weeklong extravaganza where approximately 140,000 apparel buyers from throughout the United States and around the world can source product in all categories and in all price ranges. Anchored by MAGIC, the largest and most comprehensive men’s apparel accessory trade show in the United States, Las Vegas Fashion Week has become a major fashion destination for retailers around the country and throughout the world.
From cutting edge men’s and women’s fashion to kids’ wear to below wholesale off-price deals, Fashion Week offers apparel buyers a unique opportunity to source product and network with their industry colleagues. It is a must-attend event that offers something for everyone.
Here’s a list of the overlapping shows in chronological order according to which show opens first.

When I asked Jerry Michaels what his title was and how I should refer to him in this article, he replied, “I buy and I sell and I do other things. I’m not an owner but I have as much power in the company as an owner.” A direct and honest answer from a man who has been in the jobbing business for over 30 years, and who, with his nephew B. Bronson owner Brad Bronson, has developed the company into a highly successful West Coast apparel jobbing company.

The Early Days
In one way or another, Jerry and Brad have been buying and selling apparel for most of their life. In the 1960s and ’70s Jerry’s older brothers, one of whom is Brad’s father, owned and operated Bronson of California, one of the biggest women’s sportswear manufacturers in the country. In fact, Bronson of California was one of the first manufacturers to produce apparel overseas. During their peak years, their volume reached $100 million, a figure practically unheard of in the 1970s.