Inventory Glut
Retailers Still Have a Lot of Extra Stuff That Shoppers Don’t Want
- Excess merchandise, weaker consumer demand to fuel promotions
- Off-price sellers win as brands seek buyers for unwanted goods
Shoppers carry bags in San Francisco on Sept. 29.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The inventory glut that dragged down US retailers over the past two quarters may only be getting worse. For shoppers, that means better deals.
Inventory levels have increased sequentially and are at the highest level relative to sales since the start of the pandemic, UBS Group AG analysts led by Jay Sole said in a recent note. Nike Inc. said Thursday that its North American inventories grew by a whopping 65% in the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, well above the growth that set off alarm bells earlier this year at companies such as Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Gap Inc.