Retailers focus on standout items to spur spending

New York City (AP) Americans are increasingly shopping in their own closets for new looks, so merchants are diving in to help out.

Clothing retailers are spotlighting a number of bold items this fall -- from leather pants and jackets with structured shoulders to sequined tops and skirts -- to persuade strapped consumers they can update their wardrobes without buying a new look head to toe.

At luxury merchant Neiman Marcus, for example, employees are explicitly asking shoppers what their wardrobes already include, instead of just helping them stuff their closets with new things. But persuading financially squeezed shoppers to open their wallets without dangling fat discounts continues to be challenging.

Data on retailers' same-store sales for June, to be released Thursday, are expected to show another month of stagnating sales. And federal job data released late last week that showed rising joblessness and shrinking wages for those still employed spurred worry over shoppers' spending later this year and into the holiday season.

Merchants rely more now on shoppers' paychecks to fuel purchases because consumers' two other key sources of funding -- credit cards and home equity loans -- have shrunk. But, seeing their earnings dwindle, shoppers are continuing to seek 70% discounts.

Anything they buy at regular price must stand out.

"People are not buying the whole trend look," said Jennifer Talbott, spokeswoman for Intermix, a 24-store chain with most of its stores in New York. "But they still want to look fresh and update their wardrobe."

Retailers are expected to post a 4.5% decline in same-store sales for June compared with a year earlier, about in line with May's decline of 4.6%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Index.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press.