"They talked about a lower level of markdowns, so the move upscale seems to have continued to work for them," Mark D. Foster at Kirr, Marbach & Company in Columbus, Ind., said.
Coach said it will tamp down on the level of markdowns allowed.
Hence, we believe the company has seen significantly higher levels of markdown activity in womenswear and higher returns.
Along with the Gap and Chico's, Anthropologie is one of the few retailers she visits that seems according to her carefully maintained historical database to have lower levels of markdowns than year-earlier levels.
Some publishers worry that 15 years of price wars among retailers have eroded consumers' sense of what a book is worth, leading jaded shoppers to pay more attention to the level of the markdown than the price.
"The impression they left the market at the start of the month was that we were unlikely to see further major markdowns," Mr. Lakhani said, but the third-quarter results did not "leave a high level of confidence that this is it".
Eastern time, "there will be a fresh batch" of markdowns, Mr. Bruno said.
Mr. Edwards said Halstead's 54 agents had been barraged by landlords' offers of markdowns and bonuses.
Store employee Rossana Hilario thought they probably wouldn't budge until after another few months of markdowns.
Profit margins continue to expand thanks to the company's ability to generate sales without making significant use of markdowns.
