Retailers put more focus on fathers

NEW YORK — This year, dads are battling it out with moms for their loved ones' wallets.

The nation's major retailers are turning their attention to Father's Day, which has long lagged behind Mother's Day among the most important holiday sales periods. By expanding shopping hours and advertising earlier and more aggressively for Father's Day — which this year falls on June 18 — merchants are hoping to provide a big sales boost during summer's lull.

Sears Holdings Corp.'s Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores declared June the season for dads, elevating it to a "Christmas-like status," according to Corinne Gudovic, a company spokeswoman. The retailer recently dispatched caroling dads who sing holiday jingles with Father's Day themes — "O' Plasma Screen" — at malls in the New York and Chicago area. It broke its Father's Day ad campaign on June 4, three weeks earlier than a year ago, and is offering a Father's Day gift card for the first time.

Meanwhile, Home Depot Inc., the nation's largest home improvement merchant, expanded its Father's Day advertising beyond circular ads this year, launching a TV and online advertising campaign. It's also pushing a wider array of gifts beyond the tool kit to include grills and pressure washers.

"This year, Father's Day is very important and very opportunistic," said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y. "But with that comes greater risk. You have to spend more to market and you have to risk more with greater inventory."

But retailers are willing to take such risks, worried that higher gas prices and inflation will keep shoppers away this summer and reverse a solid trend in consumer spending this year. Merchants see Father's Day as the last big sales opportunity before the back-to-school season kicks off in August.

According to the National Retail Federation's survey of 7,000 consumers, shoppers plan to spend $9 billion on Father's Day gifts, up from a planned $8.2 billion a year ago. Still, that lags behind Mother's Day, with sales expected to reach $13.8 billion this year, up from $11.4 billion, based on a consumer survey. Mother's Day is the third biggest holiday sales generator, behind the winter holiday and back-to-school seasons; Father's Day is sixth, with Valentine's Day and Easter ranked as fourth and fifth, respectively.

According to NRF, the average person plans to spend $88.80 on dads, compared with $122.16 for moms.

Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer at J.C. Penney Co. Inc., estimated that Father's Day spending accounts for two-thirds of Mother's Day sales.