Fall Preview Part I

Well this past week saw the intro of the first bit of Fall merchandise. To find the Fall merchandise, look for Season Code 'I' on the Daffy's price tags (see here for more info).

The first bit of Fall: Henleys, long-sleeve tees, knitwear, jackets and some really comfy cotton pants from Alternative Apparel - most everything was below $16.99; I think the jackets were a tad more expensive.  Additional t-shirts and long sleeve knits from Benson. Two solid brands - causal and comfortable clothes w/a tiny bit of design and well fitted. That is all I ask of non-Italian merchandise, and they delivered. Now, was I jumping out of my seat on this stuff, no, but it is 10x's better than anything we ever get from the 'young men's' dept.

Socks --- a new shipment of socks from Corgi came in, including socks called 'SOX Wales' (see pic above) -- $12.99-$13.99/pair. Great things. 

And the Fall items that came in only to a few stores --- merchandise from Hirschleifer's, a high-end store out on Long Island. The East Hanover store had three racks of stuff -- jeans from Rag & Bone, Acne, Naked & Famous and an Italian brand I'd never heard of, R13; coats from Woolrich and APC; shirts from Gitman Brothers, Levis Made & Crafted and Band of Outsiders; blazers and knits from Brunello Cuccinelli and Thom Browne. All stuff at insanely cheap prices for these names. Sadly, at least in NJ, this stuff was thrown into a store where no one purchases this stuff -- case in point, a Thom Browne blazer that came in the first week of Spring was still sitting on a different rack. NYC stores that probably got a piece of the action are 34th St., 44th & Madison and both 57th St. stores -- just a hunch, but that is how they split up the merchandise for Spring.

 

Non-fall items -- espadrilles from Johnston & Murphy, nice things at $49.99; and then, sadly, each store got in a HUGE shipment of suits from Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Tallia, all from Peerless Clothing. Priced $179.99-$199.99. I've said it before and I'll say it again --- Burlington Coat Factory and TJMaxx/Marshalls carry plenty of this stuff at the same or better prices. This is just sheer insanity to fill up the Daffy's racks w/these Macy's rejects.

So unsure how I would rate this week - on the one hand, there was some decent fall merchandise, especially in East Hanover as it pertains to Hirschleifer's items. However, all those suits clogging up the racks in each store got me sick to my stomach. I think we'll call this a break-even week. Here's hoping that next week's Fall haul will contain some Italian items, as the women and kids have done a heck of a lot better than us in that regard -- Patrizia Pepe, Les Copains and Transit for the women, and Alviero Martini and Tagliatore for kids. Leaving us men in the dust for no good reason.

Weekend Update

Again, nothing to write home about this week. Fall merchandise will be coming out relatively soon, but until then I expect everything to be pretty ho hum.

The only items that came in in large numbers were in the Shoe dept. -- sneakers from K-Swiss, leather sandals from GBX, leather chukkas from Guess and a whole lot of low-end loafers from Florsheim.

In shirts, there were maybe a half dozen shirts that came in from European designer Kurt Muller which were nothing special. I'm happy when they get in European items, but not when the stuff is dirt cheap to begin with.

Also noticed some blazers marked as samples from Ross Graison. These are nicely made things, though, have always been designed for those w/more, shall we say, 'artistic flare.'

The suit section also saw some more items Tallia . I really wish this stuff was left to the Burlington's and TJ's of the world, but I don't have a say at this point. Tallia is a Macy's house brand, produced by Peerless Clothing, and is sold at countless discounters. Not worth your time.

Finally, the one bit of good news for the folks down here in Philly -- the last few weeks we've been getting in transfers from other stores. Last week saw a number of pants, including a bunch of Patrizia Pepe items. This week a rack of suits came in from Copen Group -- (including items marked DeCurtis) -- which I believe were mostly transfers from the Elizabeth 1-9 store, where stuff was sitting for months and not selling. These suits were just being put out today, so take a look later this week.

Philadelphia Recap

No NYC updates this week, just Philly ones for the time being. I had heard rumors of Fall merchandise coming out for men, but turns out they were false, but I will post to the Twitter feed if I hear anything more concrete. Now down to business --

Good/Decent Finds:
A ton of shirts came in from Inghirami (made in Italy), under labels including Ingram, Inghirami, Fabio Inghirami and others. These shirts are made quite well -- you may know the manufacturer from it's somewhat more known brand, Reporter. I will note that while they are made well, most of the shirts are not fitted very well -- i.e., very loose, and likely mis-sized -- so make sure you try everything on before you buy it. The usual $29.99. Each store likely got quite a big selection of these shirts.

A small selection of Michael Kors shirts came in as well, all $19.99, originally $79.50.

Suits came in from Acquaviva (made in Italy), all at $149.99. These aren't the best made things, and they have a much looser fit -- clearly made for the American market. That said, they are not awful, and certainly better than the Manzini and Romano's junk that sits around collecting dust. In fact if you read last week's post, you'd note that Acquaviva merchandise is now being sold at select Bloomingdale's stores. Interestingly, it appears that the Italian company that makes these suits is embroiled in trademark litigation w/it's U.S. distributor (BMG Imports) -- in case you're interested -- http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92055152&pty=CAN&eno=1.

Shoes -- Much like NYC, the Philly store got in a small selection of Florsheim by Duckie Brown shoes as well - $119.99 and up. Additionally, a nice selection of shoes came in from from Timberland, and samples came in from Guess -- the samples were quite nice, though only a handful of them. Also forgot to mention in my NYC recap, leather loafers from Pellenera. I believe they're from the same company that makes Marco Ferretti shoes -- that is not saying much, but they are made in the Dominican Republic, so are not the worst things around.

Junk:

Quite a sizable selection of suits and vests came in from Adolfo. I mean when I tell you these things are hideous, that is an understatement. The original retail on the suits is listed as $179 and they are selling for $69.99. How do the buyers not realize that this stuff is total junk and not fit for Daffy's. I mean I realize there has to be a 'variety' of suits, but come on. This is the kind of stuff that is sold at those $99 suit stores that keep popping up everywhere.

Double-Week Recap Incl. NYC

A busy past couple of weeks at work plus some much needed relaxation time prevented me from updating as much as I have in the past, but here is the recap of everything I have noticed in the past few weeks - sorry for the lack of pics, but want to get this out as quick as possible.

High end -- It looks like it came in a while ago, but the merchandise from Tyrone's (boutique out on Long Island) is still available at 34th St., and both 57th St. stores. 34th and 57th & Lex. are limited to a few shirts - I saw some Canali, Zegna and Lorenzini. 57th & 7th also had blazers in large sizes from Canali, Belvest, and G. Vasta - maybe five in total, all mixed in w/the rest of the blazers on the wall. You wouldn't even know they were there...

Dress Shirts --
--- Be very weary of those boxed shirt/tie combos from Versa. Every single store got a stack of them - I'm assuming for Father's Day. Pretty awful things which will likely be sold, if at all, to the 40+ housewives looking for gifts for their husbands.
--- Culturata (made in Italy) made its return, but only at 57th & 7th, and I saw literally two shirts. Beautiful things, but for whatever reason, it only went to one store and we only got a very small selection.

Sportswear:
a) A small mix of shirts, jeans and other pieces came in from Signum, a German brand of men's sportswear. The make on these was pretty good -- some made in Germany, others in Poland, though, the design on a bunch of the stuff felt pretty stale. Worth a look, but you'll have to sift through the more undesirable pieces - 34th St. had the largest selection.
b) You won't find much of it, but mixed in the racks were a few pieces from Lab Cinquantuno (made in Italy), along with a sister brand called REW ONE. Haven't seen this stuff since last summer. Decent, but hard to find.
c) Really great selection of t-shirts and cardigans from Gypsy05. Most of the stores have already mixed this stuff in w/their other t-shirts and such, but well worth digging through to find it -- priced at $9.99-$13.99 for really nice knitted t-shirts, henleys and cardigans. You won't find better prices on these.
d) And more random t-shirts - 50/50 cotton poly blend shirts from Wishbone and a bunch of shirts that were made for what looks to be a charity related to the Grammy awards, Musicares. 
e) Golf apparel came in from Callaway Golf - this is the kind of stuff I expect at Steinmart, not Daffy's.

Shoes, shoes, shoes -- I was generally impressed to see the quality level of shoes come around from what it has been recently, at least on the casual side of things --- rubber shoes from Native for $26.99, casual hi-tops from Pro Keds (really nice things), canvas sneakers from True Religion and Keep, flip flops from Rider, some sort of sporty-type sneakers from Cushe, and a few (read one or two/store) pairs of boat shoe-like casual shoes from Manas Design (made in Italy). Selection varies by store. On the dressier side, the only thing worth mentioning was several pairs of Florsheim by Duckie Brown shoes at 44th & Madison and 57th & Lexington. About 10-12 pairs in each store, around $119.99 each.

Accessories --
- Ties abounded -- Good: Olimpo (made in Spain); Bad: Belvetro (ugly as all heck).
- The 57th & Lex. store got in a huge stack of belts from a company called A. Wills. I mean to say that the quality on these things is horrible is an understatement - they were 100% polyurethane - i.e., plastic belts, covering an entire pillar at the store.
- Socks -- Most stores got in some more socks from Happy Socks. Nice things.

And one final note --- It appears that the Acquaviva (made in Italy) suits that came in last season, and a few which came down to Philly this season, are actually better than I had thought. Well, they are still only a decent suit - decent construction, but I don't rate higher simply b/c the cut is much looser than other suits --- BUT -- apparently Bloomingdales is now selling Acquaviva suits and separates at select locations. So good find for Daffy's, which found this stuff before Bloomies started carrying it. Makes me wonder if someone from Bloomies is reading the blog, or at least shopping at Daffy's... ;)

Update Coming Soon

Been quite busy at work the past couple of days, but have a lot of updates to put in after my brief venture to NYC last week --- was up on business, but managed to sneak in stops at a few Daffy's locations and pick up a some things for myself.

Under Where?

Just a quick update from last week's merchandise. Didn't see much of anything new outside of the underwear department -- underwear and undershirts from two new brands -- dug (www.duglife.com) and RIP T FUSION (www.riptfusion.com).  Both looked quite decent and seem on trend given the explosion in the men's accessories/undergarments category at the moment w/brands like Tommy John, though, according to the website, RIP T FUSION is no longer in production - so if you like the stuff, stock up.

Daffy's is a True Retailer

As much as I criticize the menswear selection at Daffy's, the one thing they do right consistently is pricing.  The items are, more often than not, priced correctly from the get go, and if any merchandise does not sell quickly, it is marked down to effectuate an expedient sale.  Daffy's, more than most of its competitors, has its pricing model, including initial pricing and subsequent markdowns, down to a science.  The point is to move merchandise quickly and efficiently so that new items can consistently be brought in for higher turnover.

The reason I'm pointing this out is the experience I had last weekend at a local Saks Off 5th store. I needed some brown shoes, and tried on one pair that I had seen there several times, going all the way back to last summer.  It turns out the shoes (Saks brand - decent but nothing phenomenal) had been sitting in the store since June of 2011.  Literally, sitting on the store shelf for close to a year.  But here's the key point - the shoes had never been marked down, and the only discount would be the 30% off that the regular priced shoes were receiving.  So I asked a manager to check on the price of the shoes for me, to see if what was coming up was indeed correct.  That took 20 minutes, after which he confirmed that they were simply the regular price less the 30% off.

In the meantime, another sales associate stopped by to use the register for something else. I mentioned about the shoes being on the shelf for a year, and she said that was nothing - she has dress shirts in her department that have been there for almost two years with no markdown. I was in utter astonishment --- what is the purpose of keeping an item on a shelf for two years? Is this a clothing gallery to display clothes, or a retail outlet meant to sell merchandise?

So when the manager came back and confirmed the regular price, I showed him that the register indicated the shoes came in in June 2011, and that they were the last pair; clearly they should have been on the clearance rack w/the 50% discount. Begrudgingly, the manager said he would give me a 40% discount (between the 30 and 50). It seemed painful to him that he should even give an extra 10% discount.

So the point of this drawn out story being -- while the merchandise at Daffy's may sometimes be spotty, they are a solid retailer and because of that, I sincerely hope, won't be going anywhere anytime soon. But stores like Off 5th, Neiman's Last Call and Nordstrom Rack have another thing coming. Their merchandise is generally overpriced from the start and markdowns are sometimes non-existent. Any retail business should have its primary goal to be moving merchandise. It is quite a simple principle, but some don't seem to understand it for some reason. Daffy's does. Now we just need to fix a few things merchandise-wise and we're ready to go.

On related note -- if you find a suit from last season sitting around (look for season code E on the hang tag) --- they are all marked down to a final sale price of $31.49. I helped a colleague at work find an Ortenzi suit at this price (fully canvassed, made in Italy), which is completely insane, but shows how much Daffy's simply wants to move its merchandise.  Saks Off 5th --- the same suits that received their first markdown in Feb/March are still sitting there at the same exact price some three months later.