Skip to content
Business
Link copied to clipboard

Analyst: Don't give short shrift to shorts shift

Forget the economists, the Federal Reserve, and the president of the United States. If you want tangible proof whether the economy is turning around, open your man's underwear drawer.

Forget the economists, the Federal Reserve, and the president of the United States. If you want tangible proof whether the economy is turning around, open your man's underwear drawer.

Because sales of tightie-whities and boxers have ridden up, which means the recession might be winding down - or on a brief holiday.

Data released yesterday by the NPD Group Inc. show that sales of men's underwear spiked 4.6 percent the first six months of this year, while sales dropped in virtually every other apparel category.

The measure of binge-buying in the male-unmentionables category suggests the state of the economy might be improving, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the market-research firm.

"That's such a need-based business that it really is a good indication that the consumer hasn't checked out," Cohen said.

U.S. consumers bought nearly $2 billion worth of men's underwear from January through June - $89.5 million more than in the same period a year ago, when high gasoline prices and the pre-stock-crash credit crunch took a bite out of spending.

During that inflationary period last year, Cohen said, he sensed a recession because male-underwear sales had shed 6 percent, or $121.3 million, over the prior-year six-month period.

What makes men's underwear such a bellwether?

Unlike women's panty purchases, which are more "impulsive" and "emotional," Cohen said, male underwear is bought like a commodity. Call it the eggs and milk of apparel retailing.

Men notoriously get by on the bare minimum of underwear, working the threads until they're tattered. They replenish the supply when it becomes a matter of complete desperation, whereas women buy even if they don't need it.

"After a week, if he hasn't done laundry, he's out buying new underwear," Cohen said. "Women will have ample stockpile of product."

When men cut back on underwear, as they did in spring 2008, they are truly going without, Cohen explained. With their courageous return to the underwear aisle this spring, better days might be upon us.

The uptick has been evident among managers and buyers at Boscov's Department Stores. Sales of men's underwear and socks - known in the industry as "furnishings" - have been up at the 39-store chain based in Reading, said Kyle Wegman, divisional merchandise manager for young men and boys.

Sales have been stronger than last year, a fact shared in management huddles. "Especially our Hanes, which is a little lower price point than Jockey," Wegman said.

Nationally, the only other apparel category that scored a sales increase in NPD's survey was fleece wear, which has become especially popular in hoodies sold to teenagers, Cohen said.

The biggest sales drops were in tailored clothing (11.4 percent), swimwear (9 percent), tops (7.6 percent), bottoms (7.8 percent), and hosiery (6.4 percent). NPD forecasts a drop of 6 percent to 7 percent in overall apparel sales this year because of the economy.

Women's intimate apparel was down 3.3 percent, due in part to a drop in panty sales, Cohen said. But while getting by with less new underwear, women continued to view another undergarment as indispensable: the technologically advanced bra.

What, you ask, is such a thing?

"The bras that promise to lift and push together," Cohen said, "rather than the old adage of lift and separate."

In that category, sales remained perky.