Winter Sales will be huge this year

Desperate shops slash prices to surviveSunday 12:00AMMAJOR retailers try to entice wary shoppers by dropping their prices  as much as 70 per cent.Department store rivals Myer and David Jones will go head to head on Wednesday when they launch their highly anticipated winter stocktake sales, with some prices reduced by up to 70 per cent.Myer and David Jones have been on a discounting spree for months to attract customers through the door.A lack of consumer confidence has been blamed on increasing interest rates, the higher costs of living, continuing economic uncertainty and warmer weather.Myer corporate affairs manager Damian Glass said the company was reacting to a “challenging period”.“Factors such as interest rates, problems in Greece and Thailand, volatility on share markets and increases in the cost of living mean disposable income is under pressure,” Mr Glass said.Australian Retailers Association director Russell Zimmerman said: “I expect them to be very, very big sales due to slow trade and warm weather.“It really hasn’t been a cold winter yet and it’s already the end of May. At the end of the day, there is no sense in holding on to stock. You need money to pay your suppliers and summer stock arrives mid to late July.”At Target, the biggest bargains are to be found in clothing and homewares. Managing director Laura Inman said that retail had been “highly competitive” and less profitable than the same period last year, when the store benefited from increased spending directly following the federal Government’s stimulus package.“Customers are more cautious in their spend, with higher mortgage interest rates and petrol prices eating into family budgets,” she said.Shoppers at Westfield Miranda last week said the almost constant stream of sales negated the need to buy items at full price.“There is always one shop that has sales on, so you always look for a sale,” Miranda teacher and mother-of-two Kat Bender, 34, said.Friends Brittany Magson, 20, a student, and Gabriella Calpis, 18, an administrative assistant, both of Jannali, were spending their day off shopping for shoes.“In stores like Wanted and Wittner, they’re usually quite expensive, but now they’re at market price,” Ms Magson said.“I will pay full price if I really, really need something, but everybody’s displaying ‘50 per cent off’ signs.”