CT Shoppers Spend Most On Women’s Clothing

By Stephen Singer

Associated Press

HARTFORD — Flush with higher incomes than other Americans, Connecticut shoppers are spending more on women’s clothing than anyone else in the nation.

Connecticut was first among the 50 states in money spent annually on women’s apparel — $975 per household on average this year — beating out larger states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California, according to MapInfo Corp, a Troy, NY, firm that provides software and research to retailers.

“Taking that one variable out of all the variables we have available, it became an interesting fact to know about,” said Sebastien Rancourt, product manager at MapInfo.

The numbers surprised Kristin Parenteau, a speech language pathologist who was shopping at Westfield Shoppingtown in Meriden on Tuesday. She said she spends nearly $4,000 a year on clothing.

“That’s it, $975 a year?” asked Parenteau, 34. “Oh, Lord. I do more than that. I love my clothing to be unique and different. I do a lot of my shopping at boutiques.”

The statistics, which MapInfo developed using data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey, measure how much was spent on women’s clothing, not who spent the money, Rancourt said.

Connecticut has regularly topped all other states in per-capita income.

Among the top ten states in spending on women’s apparel, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Delaware were Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Utah, where households spent $894 on average in 2005, was No. 10.

Lisa Canas, a nurse practitioner who was shopping at Filene’s in Meriden, said she hates shopping and found it difficult to believe that Connecticut shoppers spend the most.

“I would think it would be California or something like that,” she said.

The relatively high spending on women’s clothing didn’t surprise an industry spokesman.

Jim Sluzewski, a spokesman for Federated Department Stores Inc in Cincinnati, said women’s apparel accounts for 27 percent of the company’s sales. In addition, 33 percent of sales are feminine accessories, a category that includes intimate apparel, shoes, and cosmetics.

Trailing behind are sales for men’s and children’s items combined, at 21 percent. Home merchandise sales account for 19 percent.