Santa Fe New Mexican

Consumers stock up on comfort, outdoor gear this winter

Pandemic continues to push shoppers away from city lifestyle

- By David Sharp

PORTLAND, Maine — Over the summer, people looking to get out of the house snapped up boats, bicycles and patio furniture, figuring they were safer socializin­g and being active outdoors than inside. Now that temperatur­es are dropping, they’re buying snowshoes, skis, boots and winter coats, boosting the beleaguere­d retail sector.

“People want to get outside in the fresh air,” said Jay Rock from Arlberg Ski and Surf Shop in Portland. “I feel like people are not too concerned about spending money.”

When shoppers aren’t looking for ways to stay active many are looking to stay comfortabl­e, meaning sales of items like slippers and warm pajamas have also skyrockete­d.

Hot sellers tend to fall into several categories — products promoting a healthy lifestyle, working and learning from home, and entertaini­ng from home, said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at the NPD Group.

“The cozy comfort business continues to thrive because we’ve now worn slippers every day” since the pandemic hit, he added.

For outdoor gear, cross-country skiing equipment was up 202 percent and snowshoes were up 221 percent from August to October, the latest data available, and are still going strong, according to the Snowsports Industries America.

In the comfort segment, slippers are up 70 percent and the sleep category is ahead of last year, when nearly $8.5 billion worth of pajamas were sold, NPD Group said.

In fact, sleepwear is just about the only area of the clothing sector that’s seeing growth this year, Cohen said. An NPD survey on stay-at-home behaviors indicated about half of Americans reported wearing activewear and loungewear and pajamas all day as more people work from home.

The trend is a continuati­on of what began in the spring and summer.

People are canceling travel and staying home because of the pandemic, but they’re also seeking to get outdoors to avoid going stir crazy. That made barbecues, outdoor furniture, outdoor heaters, trampoline­s, canoes and camping gear hot commoditie­s.

All told, it’s shaping up to be decent holiday season for retailers, even though millions are struggling with lost wages during the pandemic. The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales, including booming online shopping from home, will increase between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent compared to last season.

At L.L. Bean, off-the-chart sales of bikes, kayaks and outdoor furniture, and now skis and snowshoes, are expected to help salvage what could have been an even more difficult year with steep declines in clothing and other items.

The Maine-based retailer reports that sales of snowshoes are up 358 percent, and sales of sleds and skis have more than doubled, said spokeswoma­n Amanda Hannah. Cozy slippers are up 95 percent and sweatpants are up 180 percent, Hannah said.

“Americans are really searching for outdoor connection­s and indoor comforts more than ever in this year of unpreceden­ted stress,” she said.

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