proving salutary.
"It's certainly a boon to the luxury business," said Dana Telsey, a luxury goods analyst with Bear Stearns in New York.
Consumers are aware that the most
sought-after items have likely been ordered
in limited quantities, she noted. "That
exclusivity has made more people willing to pay full price for merchandise the moment they think they can get it, which has helped the bottom line."
Some merchants view the trend as a mixed blessing: Because customers are picking clothes even before a store may have ordered them, retailers' authority as style arbiters may be eroded; but the early orders also are a cushion, limiting the risk that high-ticket items will languish on the racks. "It's great to know that certain pieces are spoken for," said Jeffrey Kalinsky, the owner of Jeffrey, a fashion boutique in New York and Atlanta.
Beth Buccini, a partner in Kirna Zabete in Manhattan, welcomes shoppers who rush the selling season. "You feel their frenzy," she said. "You feel it in the bottom line." Buccini attributes a 27 percent spike in the sales over the same period a year ago to her pre-buy business.
An accelerated fall selling cycle, which kicks off as early as February, just after the fall collections are shown, also lends an element of edge to shopping that wasn't there before.
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