Retailers Eye Recession, and Weather

New York, NY —

As we head into the biggest retail month of the year, getting people out to the stores is one concern among store owners. Another concern is the weather. WNYC's Lisa Chow reports.

REPORTER: Maybe you've sensed that this month has been relatively warm, but Lexy Funk knows it for sure. She's CEO of the clothing chain Brooklyn Industries. And she tracks daily temperatures, because the weather affects her sales.

FUNK: it's been about four-five degrees warmer than last year November. So we have more coats. But October was much colder and we sold more coats. And December we'll see.

REPORTER: Retailers buy months in advance for the holiday season. Funk compared her outerwear business to farming.

FUNK: Right now, we've planted all of our seeds, and our corn stalks are halfway up, and if it starts to rain, that will hurt our ability to harvest our down outerwear crop.

REPORTER: So now this CEO is waiting and hoping that December delivers some cold winter weather. For WNYC, I'm Lisa Chow.