2008 Hot Markets — Charting Your Course

Fashion ($567B, +12 percent; with $8.7B to print, +1 percent) ranks Number 9 with a very mixed closet. The big print buyers are the sales-challenged department stores fighting discounters that are now selling brand-name jewelry and intimate accessories ($3.0B to print, +11 percent), and clothing and footwear ($5.7B to print, 0 percent). Women’s apparel, a weakness in ’07, will wear better in ’08 and ’09. Screen and digital large-format printing will be in vogue. At retail, gift cards continue to be the biggest print spend (+14 percent), as more transactions involve them.