No more codgers in work clothes - Sears updating its apparel departments - column

No More Codgers In Work Clothes

The word is that apparel, among others, is going to be a "power department" for the "new" Sears. There will be new department store-like designs, and high profile brand names are going to be showing up--some already have--in many apparel categories.

Even given Sears' flurry of announcements and actions, the nation's No. 1 retailer has its work cut out if its aim is to woo shoppers over to apparel. About the only two segments in which the retailer has a credible head start are children's wear and men's work clothes.

The simple fact is that for practically the last decade Sears has put apparel on the back burner. It's made no real attempt over the years--with the exception of the relatively McKids program in children's--to make the consumer identify Sears with apparel, or vice versa. While the Cheryl Tiegs women's wear signature line might have been a good idea--no serious merchandising or marketing efforts were undertaken on its behalf (for a stark contrast, see what K mart has done with its Jaclyn Smith line).

Sears has focused almost exclusively on major appliances, automotives and tools. I know that's what I think about when I think about Sears.

Very much indicative of the Sears image over the years is the store's own ad a couple of years back that featured those two old hicks coming into a Sears store to exchange a 50-year-old hammer for a new one. While the ad went out of its way to show the two duffers stopping along the way to ogle and shake their heads over the crazy new fashions, that's not the image that stuck. What stuck was a couple of old codgers from the sticks in bottom-of-the-barrel basic work clothes.

Having said all that, let me now say that, at least so far, Sears has made some smart--if obvious--decisions to revitalize its apparel business. Expanding children's apparel, jettisoning suits and most dresses and, in general, emphasizing name brands and creating a more upscale department store-like ambience throughout the apparel area are unquestionably steps in the right direction.

Sears, at least as it relates to apparel, shouldn't try to with discounters. Management should remember that, considering its locations, the competition is much more the moderate to upscale specialty mall stores like The Gap than it is K mart or Wal-Mart.

In apparel, Sears should position itself as the sharp-priced merchant of branded fashion and fashion basics alternative to JCPenney, Dillards, Belks and even the smaller specialty mall stores. One might even say Sears should strive to be "The Wal-Mart of Mall."

Now let's see if they can pull it off.

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