With the majority of consumers nursing a financial hangover in the aftermath of the holiday season, it is no surprise that January is the worst month of the year for retail sales.
If you were smart enough to manage your money correctly throughout Christmas and New Year’s, you may be in a position to take advantage of the many sales that go on during this month.
Below, we will go over several types of product that are normally marked down at a deep discount during the gloomiest month of the year.
1) Winter clothing
This may not make sense to casual observers, but the time is rapidly approaching when many retail stores will be receiving spring and summer apparel.
In order to make room on the racks, any winter clothing that is still on the floor will be subject to price decreases starting this month.
Most consumers preparing for winter will have bought what they needed in the fall, and with the need to create room in store inventories becoming greater with every passing day, consumers can expect to see greatly reduced prices on warm clothing starting in January.
Given the clout that this major department store chain has, we expect that you’ll be able to find the best deals at Target.
While you can expect to find good deals on the floor, we also recommend checking coupon sites for additional discounts before heading out to your nearby branch.
2) Fitness equipment
Out of all the times of year that people resolve to become healthier, January is the most popular. Seeking to live up to the New Year’s resolutions that they had just made, they hit the stores en masse looking for fitness equipment to aid them in their quest to slim down or build up their body.
To encourage these customers to buy as much as possible, retailers slash prices on what is usually expensive gear, making it an ideal time to buy for those that are serious about making a change in their health.
3) Bed & bath
On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a specific reason why bed linens, towels, and other bedroom/bathroom accessories should be on sale in January.
However, when you dive deep into the history books, you will find the answer: in 1878, department store owner John Wanamaker was seeking a way to boost sales of his bed linens, whose revenues had been slowing in recent months.
Back then, bed linens, which typically only came in white, so he marketed the event as a white sale. Over time, these events were adopted by other retailers, and they expanded them to include other bed and bathroom items.
Although the past history of the white sale has been forgotten by most people, the tradition continues to this day.
4) Christmas decorations and other related merch
With next Christmas being more than three hundred days away, the price of holiday decorations and other related merchandise plummets in value immediately after December 25th.
If you are a shrewd shopper that isn’t burnt out on this season come January, you can scoop up many items at fire sale prices.