Today’s POV blog

XOXO, the clothing company, is focusing on a whole new type of window dressing — and undressing.

At a 38th and 5th Avenue in New York City, XOXO is paying models to dress and undress throughout the day and night. The crowd, mostly men, gather at the window to watch and make all sorts of efforts to get the attention of the women. The women have strict instructions to not interact with the crowd and are so good at ignoring the gawkers that some believe that the window must be one way.

The holiday theatre is getting mixed reviews. More than one passerby thought that that the show was better suited for the privacy of — well — a peep show, or at least the privacy of one’s home; but the wide variety and aged onlookers seem to find it — at the very least — entertaining.

At a time when every company’s marketing dollars must be very wisely spent, and creativity is the word of the day, it’s difficult to criticize a company that has found a way to draw a crowd.

It will be interesting to see if their sales numbers go up by more than just singles tossed at the girls.

According to Wikipedia, the term Black Friday refers to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day — the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season — and used by the media to refer to the beginning of the period in which brick-and-mortar (physical store) retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Upon opening — sometimes as early as midnight and staying open for 24 hours — retailers offer deals and loss leaders to attract shoppers. Sales during the Christmas season can represent 50% or more of a retailers’ annual sales.

The term Black Friday is believed to have originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s in reference to the heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. While most of the US saw the heavy traffic ending up at shopping malls, total sales for the day are reported at $10.66 billion; up only about 0.5% from the same day last year.*

Additionally and according to Shoppertrak.com:

• Year-Over-Year Retail Sales Rose 0.9 Percent for Week Ending November 21*
• Year-Over-Year Retail Sales Rose 0.7 Percent for Week Ending November 14, Week-Over-Week NRSE Sales Increase 7.5 Percent*

*Information provided by National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE), Retail Traffic Index (SRTI) and ShopperTrak RCT Corporation.

The term Cyber Monday, according to Wikipedia, refers to the Monday immediately following Black Friday — a day that symbolizes a heavy traffic for online retailers. While Cyber Monday is not nearly as well known as Black Friday, there does seem to be a direct correlation between the popularity of the event and the increase in and shift of brick-and-mortar sales to online sales.