Coming to a Retailer Near You: This Season's Clothes

Fashion retailers cannot expect Michelle Obama to ride to the rescue, rocking their frocks as she did for J Crew and Talbots.

To survive this recession, all retailers are slashing prices to unload inventory. And many clothing stores now need to also figure out "keeping the selling floor feeling new and fresh while keeping fashions in sync with the weather," reports the AP.

When times were good, customers could afford to stock up on next season's wears, which department stores were happy to supply. But thanks to the recession, customers are frugally buying what they need now, rather than what they might want in a few months. That means no more flip flops in February or heavy wool sweaters in August.

To an extent, any business that's set on cyclical innovation faces this balancing act more than ever. Resources are being diverted towards keeping core customers happy with their immediate needs. Yet creating new products (and enticing potential customers with your R+D efforts) is obviously essential to long-term sustainability.

How is your company is dealing with this challenge?

Photo by Flickr user "Candid Photos," CC 2.0.