Lower Prices Boost Fur Coat Sales in ’92

Thanks to colder weather and lower prices, more and more people are dressing in fur.

Sandy Parker, publisher of the Parker Report newsletter on the fur industry, said sales of mink coats and other fur garments rose between 7% and 10% in 1992, the first industrywide gain in five years.

A few retailers across the country are reporting significant gains. Flemington, N.J.-based Flemington Fur Co., the nation’s largest fur outlet, reported a 21% jump in sales in 1992. In Los Angeles, Wachtenheim Furs said sales are up by a quarter. Eagle Furs, also of Los Angeles, reported similar gains.

The revenue gains do not necessarily translate into profits, Parker noted. An oversupply of mink has pushed the price of an average mink coat down to $5,500, half the 1987 price. As a result, retailers are probably recording small profits or breaking even. Ranchers are losing money, Parker said.

Parker said that protests by animal rights activists against the fur trade have not greatly affected sales. “They never had much of an impact,” he said.

Now your patience is taxed: The IRS has adopted a new slogan: “The Internal Revenue Service. Answers. Assistance. At your service.”

It might add: “Only if you wait.”

We got a busy signal the first five times we dialed 1-800-TAX-1040, the special number set up for tax assistance. On the sixth call, we got through to a recording, telling us how to choose one of 105 recorded answers to common problems. After listening for two minutes, we had enough, and opted to speak with an IRS representative. Two minutes later, a voice came on.

IRS spokesman Henry Holmes said the heavy volume of calls means taxpayers may have trouble getting through. People who call in the morning and choose recorded messages will have less difficulty, he said.

To steer people to recorded information, the agency has increased the number of phone lines dedicated to recorded messages by 17%. At the same time, the agency has reduced by 4% the number of representatives available to answer questions.

And the money is spent: People who are counting on tax refund checks to cover holiday purchases may be in for a shock. Thanks to an adjustment in the tax withholding last March, millions of Americans will receive hundreds of dollars less in refunds than in previous years.

According to the IRS, married people with a total income under $90,200 will find their refund checks reduced by an average of $345. Single people who earn under $53,200 will find their checks reduced by an average of $172. The refunds are lower because less federal income tax was withheld from paychecks last year.

The withholding rate was changed 10 months ago in an effort to stimulate the economy by giving people more money to spend. The change was expected to put an additional $25 billion in the pockets of taxpayers in 1992. Ironically, some economists now believe that the move may have the opposite effect in 1993.

Skimpier refund checks are expected to “take the wind out of consumer spending for a while,” said Jason Bram, economist with the Conference Board in New York.

Odds and ends: A new law took effect Jan. 1 requiring locksmiths to obtain identification from people seeking access to cars, offices, stores or homes. The law is intended to reduce thefts by people who hire locksmiths to make keys for cars or establishments they don’t own. . . . Kellogg’s, the nation’s leading cereal maker, raised prices 3.2% this week after boosting them 3.7% in May. Analysts said the hikes mostly cover discounts and promotions, including coupons. . . . Citing a year-end rate increase for Pacific Gas & Electric, the consumer group Toward Utility Rate Normalization gave the California Public Utilities Commission a grade of “C” for 1992, the same grade it earned in 1991.