Remember the days when, after a nice Thanksgiving meal, you would sit down and think about all the gifts you planned to buy the next day during Black Friday sales at the major retailers?   Yes, I’m talking about last year.

Kmart has other ideas than lay-away to combat tough economic times this year.  Namely, the bog box is planning to begin traditional Black Friday sales THIS SUNDAY.  Kmart is hoping that you will come into the store and get the good bargains for Christmas barely after Halloween. (Ad Age- subscription required.)

In case you didn’t know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday because it is the day when many retailers are able to turn a profit for the year, thereby converting the profit/loss sheets from red to black ink.

I can’t see myself heading to do Christmas shopping this Sunday, but I never was a fan of Black Friday sales anyway- too crowded.

I knew it was only a matter of time before other big box retailers hopped on Wal-Mart’s back in an attempt to lure in early Christmas shoppers and fight off economic doldrums.  Well, I saw the first evidence of this new trend last night on a television commercial.

Retail giant, Kmart, has a new 30-second spot featuring a married couple who, thanks to the wife’s spunk and resourcefulness, decide to buy Christmas gifts early from Kmart.  But… how can they afford gifts in these tough economic times when credit cards are starting to tighten the availability of easy credit?  Lay-away, of course!

Yes, Kmart has revived the concept, pulled it out of a deep storage closet and blown off the dust.  Lay-away!  Facetiousness aside, it’s a pretty genius idea, actually, since the store holds onto the product until the consumer has made all the payments.  It will be interesting to see if this campaign works to increase the holiday sales.

Leave it to Wal-Mart to try to make the best of a bad situation.  The world’s biggest retailer just announced that they have a plan to drive holiday sales.  Their plan?  The early bird gets the shoppers.

According to this week’s Advertising Age, Wal-Mart plans to start advertising holiday sale items now.  Normally retailers wait until after Halloween to set up Christmas displays and mark items for holiday promotion.  However, Wal-Mart has already begun to stage their stores with Christmas items- the displays should be up and ready as early as tomorrow.

Wal-Mart is also sticking to its low price policy by offering 10 popular toys for $10 each this holiday season.  The retailer is hoping that the cheaper items will pull in consumers who will splurge on impulse buys once in the store.  I don’t know about you, but that strategy always seems to work for me in the grocery store- or is it that I shop when I’m hungry?

The $700 billion bailout bill finally passed the House of Representatives today, albeit, with some changes and additions to the bill’s original form.  While the day did see a slight bump upward for retail stocks, the S&P Retail Index closed lower than it did yesterday, and overall the index is down 11.7% from a week ago (WWD - subscription required).

One of today’s biggest losers was big box, Dillard’s, which ended the day at $11.06 per share- a 8.9% drop.  I dread seeing the numbers this upcoming holiday season.

Just like the greater economy as a whole, retail is suffering from the current financial crisis.  After yesterday’s record drop, the S&P Retail index improved slightly, gaining 12 points.  Monday, the index dropped 6.7% after the House of Representatives failed to pass the bailout bill. (WWD, subscription required).

It’s going to continue to be a sticky road for retail for the next few months (or longer), I fear.  Concerned and cash-strapped consumers aren’t helping to push up the bottom line, either.

If the financial woes continue, and the U.S. Government can’t push some sort of aid package, then retail will really be hurt. The lack of available cash for credit companies may cause consumers’ credit lines to be shortened. If that happens, unless consumers have cash to pay for purchases, the “buy now, pay later” approach won’t work, because buyers will not have credit. No credit is a problem for retailers who depend on shoppers swiping to buy non-necessity items.

It could get very ugly for retail.

Fashion Week is well underway here in the Big Apple!  Renee Zellweger and a bevy of other starlets attended Carolina Herrera’s show this morning.

The weekend boasted a heaping of fashion’s finest.  Here’s the round-up for today’s official shows:

It’s that time of year again when Bryant Park fills with white tents, and we all turn our eyes to the fashions of the near future.   Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow!  To view the Fashion Week Schedule of shows, click here.

Fashion Lawyer will be covering the shows, reviews and big news of Fashion Week, so be sure to tune in!  If you’re interested in reading about the hidden costs in producing a show in Bryant Park, click here to read an older post on the economics of a fashion show

I’m 5′ 11″, and in my skinniest, tiniest days back at around age 19, I was modeling a bit. I was a size 4. While I didn’t have an eating disorder, I would regularly pass out if I didn’t eat enough. I was much too thin to be heathly, and everyone around me knew it. Yet, the message I always got from agencies was, “you could really stand to lose about 10 pounds”. Ten pounds of what? Bone mass?

Unfortunately, as the Wall Street Journal reveals, the modeling world still wants ultra-skinny girls trotting down the runway. The article in the WSJ focuses on a a young model, Tatiana Stewart, who is 6′2″ and a size four. Guess what? Everyone inside the industry is encouraging her to drop down to a size 2.

Up to now, the United States has not taken a stand and put health regulations in to govern the fashion industry, as France has.  Ordinarily, I’m rather laissez-faire about these types of issues.  I think excessive government intervention isn’t always the right answer.  However, when on a constant and systematic basis an industry is putting human health at risk, I start to wonder if it is time for Uncle Same to step in.

What do you think?  Should the U.S. set safety and health standards to protect models?  As always, comments are welcome and appreciated!

Here’s a big shocker- retail sales fell short of projected expectations in July.  Ahem, poor economy, ahem.  Sorry; had to clear my throat.

Even retail super giant, Wal-Mart, came in with numbers lower than analysts had hoped.   Mass market retailers like Old Navy, Gap and Buckle suffered steep dips in same-store sales, with drops in the double digits.

It’s rough here in the States right now, and I don’t think the Autumn will offer much solace for retailers.