Specialty Retail Industry
Introduction
The industry I have chosen for my paper is the Specialty retail industry or the clothing industry which has the SIC code of 5651. This industry consists of companies that are primarily in the business of clothing and accessories for men, women and children. These companies include unisex clothing stores and jeans stores for all ages instead of stores aimed at a particular age group or sex.
Industry Environment
The clothing industry in the US entails more than 100,000 stores with combined revenues of over 150 billions dollars a year. The giants within this industry include Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP, Urban Outfitters, and TJX Companies, which I shall be concentrating on in this paper. This industry is extremely concentrated and the fifty largest companies make up more than 65% of the industry sales.
The main drivers of this industry are personal income and fashion trends. The profitability of firms within this industry lies on effective marketing and sourcing (merchandising) which puts the larger firms ahead of the pack. Smaller companies usually compete within local markets or serve a niche market like a particular sex or age group or a differentiated and unique product. The industry is highly labor intensive with annual revenue per worker at around $150,000. The competitors to this industry include large department stores, discount stores and online retailers that have grown tremendously over the past decade.
Financial Conditions
Some of the industry leaders in Specialty retail included GAP Inc. with 2010-year end sales at $14.66 billion, followed closely by TJX companies at $14.48 billion. Other companies within the industry include Urban Outfitters with 2010 year-end sales at $2.48 billion and Abercrombie & Fitch at $2.93 billion. Company | Sales | Net Income | P/E ratio | GAP | $14.66 B | $1.1 B | 10.9 | TJX | $14.48 B | $1.21 B | 17.9 | A&F | $2.93 B | $254 M | 21.3 |