With the end-of-year holidays over, the Christmas decorations are put away. Now, other colors have taken over the shopping streets. Various highly vibrant posters fill the store windows with slogans like -20, -40, -50, -80%. Enough to make more than a few salivate and heat up others’ credit cards.
Under a flurry of potential customers coming and going, different brands have opened their doors eagerly. There’s an extremely high desire from these professionals because, during the winter sales, the textile sector makes 20% of its annual turnover. This period is much more significant than the summer season, due to the different products offered for sale. Sweaters, coats, or boots for the ladies are much more expensive than a simple swimsuit for the gentlemen.
When asking merchants if the sales started off well this year, the response comes quickly. For Hélène, a shoe salesperson in Rue de France, the assessment of these first days is “quite mixed. I was hoping for more enthusiasm, but the bad weather has cooled everyone off.”
The sentiment is somewhat different on Jean Médecin Avenue. Pierre, a 23-year-old male who works in a women’s ready-to-wear shop, says, “the week is long, and attendance only changes on Wednesday afternoons and weekends. The rest of the time, we don’t have extraordinary crowds.”
But let’s return to our sale enthusiasts. One might expect a tidal wave of frenzied consumers tearing off items, but that is not the case. Not a single altercation between customers over the latest jeans or trendy boots occurred. Nice’s residents are naturally calm; it seems they like to take their time. Let’s be clear, on the Côte d’Azur, there are different categories of buyers. There are the experts who know what they want, the casuals who get tempted, and then the high rollers who are in a class of their own, blowing through their budget within an hour. Julie, for her part, does not see herself as a compulsive shopper, but “loves this time because it’s the moment to score good deals.” Her strategy is to wait for the last weeks to take advantage of stock liquidations. As for the men, they are less patient. Luc, a 23-year-old law student, admits, “I can’t resist when I see a good deal. I’m a clothes addict, so obviously, the sales period is a tough time for my credit card. The only one unhappy with this is my banker.”
Regardless, this year the sales have started strong and should delight many compulsive buyers. We’re not waiting to slash prices! Normally these markdowns happen from the second or third week, not right from the start. But as the saying goes, let’s take advantage of it.
So go ahead, touch, try, buy to your heart’s content, hoping just that the weather is on your side.
