By Laura Baverman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

To retailers, stockrooms full of leftover merchandise are a nightmare, but for consumers they're an opportunity.

As stores seek to get rid of excess inventory and clear room for fall merchandise, customers are reaping the benefits of discounted prices.

"The consumer is going to be sitting pretty," said Todd Slater, an analyst at Lazard Freres.

Discounts will be perhaps most generous in apparel, where inventory growth - up 8 percent - was higher than a 2.9 percent sales gain in the first quarter, according to Slater's estimates. That is the first time in at least a decade that has happened, he said.

Ray Caton, store manager at Dillard's at West Towne Centre in Westwood, has observed about a 3 to 5 percent increase in inventory this year.

He thinks the excess will sell as the weather improves and consumer confidence increases. Anything marked down to 75 percent or more by August or September will be shipped to clearance centers.

For Carol Trotta, owner of Mike and Carol Trotta's at Fourth and Walnut streets downtown, spring has brought an increase in business.

"Fall was a very difficult season. We finally are getting rid of fall. But spring and summer have begun to pick up," she said.

Summer clothing is steadily leaving the racks.

Other retailers, such as Fabulous Furs in Northern Kentucky, predict an upturn in the economy based on its sales and inventory.

"Our numbers say we are at the front of the recovery," owner and president Donna Salyers said.

Her store tries to sell all of its merchandise by Dec. 31 every year. This year, the inventory was sold by the end of January. Sept. 11 hit the business hard the year before, causing some inventory to be carried over for 2002.

"There was no business to be had in 2001. People weren't looking at catalogs; they were looking at CNN," she said.

Sharon Chapman noticed large discounts while shopping Friday at August Max Woman at Tower Place.

"Just about everything is on sale. Their sale stuff is on sale, 20 percent off," she said.

But the large discounts have not encouraged her to spend more. The past year's economic struggles are fresh in her mind.

"We still watch our budget really carefully. Coming out of debt from the last recession took four years," she said.

The faltering economy has not affected sisters Alisha and Trina Gibson's spending, however.

"We complain, but we still spend," Alisha said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

E-mail lbaverman@enquirer.com.