Dressing up apparel sales

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. Sales of women's dresses are skyrocketing, the NPD group reported this week. For the 12 months ended this April, women’s dresses posted over $5 billion dollars in sales, an increase of 30.4% over the same period in 2006. By comparison, total women’s apparel is up only 5.1% for the same time period.

By channel, specialty stores saw the biggest rise in dress sales, with an increase of 51.7%, followed by national chains and department stores, with 45.7% and 33.3% increases, respectively.

“It is a period of unprecedented growth,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst of The NPD Group, adding, “It is interesting to see how prominently dresses are being featured by retailers.”