Challenges in Apparel/Home Retailing

With the economy the way that it is right now, many people are just buying the minimum and essential items they need to get by. This can cause problems for many businesses, especially with the Apparel and home fashion retailing jobs. Since our economy is in a time of recession, financial issues are at an all time high. This is why people are cutting back on spending for their leisure items such as Apparel and fashion, and even making sure that their home is furnished with the newest trend. This time of the year is supposed to be the most profitable and busiest time for home retailing with the holidays coming up,but with people struggling to even pay their taxes and mortgages, the Real Estate in itself is even having problems. This means that if people are not buying houses, they sure are not buying accessories for them.

I have noticed just by doing my usual window shopping, seeing as I can't afford many luxury items right now, that clothing stores are having to do major mark downs and sales on items that would normally be sold for much higher. It has had a major effect on both designer items, because many people can't just go out and spend a few hundred dollars on a single item these days, but also for the less expensive items because people are more worried about just filling up their gas tank. I think that if we just give it a little bit of time, our economic recession will be over and no one will even think twice about buying that next pair of shoes or buying a new couch for their living room because everything in life has its ups and downs.

Guest Speaker

I really enjoyed the guest speaker today because I actually felt like I could relate to her. She was more our age than the last lecture which gave me a sense of where I may actually be as soon as I graduate. I like the fact that she touched on parts of her experience at UNCG, for example the New York trip and blogs and how anything can really open doors for you, you just have to be open.

A big thing for me is probably the Internship. As we have discussed in class, and she reiterated, that they are very good opportunities no matter what field that you will go into. This is because you get to meet new people and learn things that you did not already know, as well as apply some of the skills that you learned in the class room in a more hands on environment. I am a Sophomore and definitely know not to wait to do an internship, and that it is never too early to start. She mentioned that its really a sense of who you know, and sometimes it is the person that you least expect that will be able to help you with what you need. An example of this for me was at work the other week and another co worker and I had previously discussed my major and her mother apparently works for a big textile company, which I was unaware of at the time we were talking. Well, she came back to me and asked if I would be interested in doing an internship or just helping out for the holidays and maybe the summer, and I was like for what, and she said for her mother's company. I felt honored that she asked me, but still need to contact and get more information on it, but it really does go to show as we talked about today that you never know whats going to happen.

I also liked that she brought in actual items that she had designed and made herself such as the apron and handbag. It is really neat to see the final and end result of something that you have been waiting on for a while. I am definitely going to listen about her advice on getting started with the internship and really seeking out what I want to do with this industry and figure out what my specific field will be.