Fashion Retail Performance Through United States Recessions
Open Access
Author:
Dandrea, Stephanie Lee
Area of Honors:
Finance
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
James Alan Miles, Thesis Supervisor James Alan Miles, Thesis Honors Advisor William Kracaw, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Fashion Retail US Recessions Consumer Behavior
Abstract:
This thesis is an analysis of fashion retail performance in the United States over the past decade, particularly in light of the recent recession. It considers fifteen domestic, public companies that sell products in three different price environments: luxury, premium, and discounted. The study examines the collective performance within these three retail segments in terms of both their quarterly and annual revenues and their annual stock prices between 2000 and 2012. The findings of this paper suggest that while the luxury segment was quick to recover after the onset of the downturn, these companies are not as recession-proof as some recent headlines may claim. The results of the research also identify the premium companies, whose customer bases typically consist of middle- to upper-income consumers, as those that suffered the most during times of economic instability; whereas, it substantiates that the overall stability and performance of the discounted segment reigns supreme within the scope of the study.