Mom's warm up to Kids & More; Sears expands experiment with kid's apparel format - children's apparel, equipment and playthings super department in Sear's stores

Moms Warm Up to Kids & More

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Two mothers with their young children in tow walked into the kids & More superstore, which is located at the second floor mall entrance to the Sears store at the Southlake Mall here.

"Is this Sears?" asked one.

Her friend took a step back and looked up. "That's what the sign says."

"Wow, This is nice," said the first mother. "Grab a shopping cart and let's check this out."

That exchange, overheard last month as Sears executives took a group of reporters on a tour of the new 25,000-square-foot "one-stop shop for kids," was typical of initial customer reaction to Kids & More. With Kids & More, Sears is attempting to reestablish itself as a major force in the roughly $14 billion children's apparel business.

Yet, Kids & More is more than just a children's apparel store. Among the several specialty shops within the Kids & More superstore department are toys, shoes, a children's hair salon, juvenile furniture and baby needs, play areas and a maternity apparel shop.

And, while shoppers are apt to confuse the new Sears superstore with Kids "R" Us, one Sears executive said, "We have about 80 percent of what Kids "R" Us carries--plus 100 percent more."

A second, somewhat smaller 20,000-square-foot Kids & More prototype opened earlier this month in Chicago within the new Sears Ltd. store in Ford City. The current Sears strategy is to evaluate the results of these test formats this year in preparation for a rollout in Sears stores in as many as 400 markets beginning in 1990.

"We'll address the question of freestanding Kids & More stores in the future, but not now," said michael Bozic, chairman and chief executive officer of Sears Merchandise Group. "Our agenda is full right now."

As the accompanying pictures indicate, Kids & More is quite a departure from the typically staid Sears children's department.

PHOTO : Top: Focused column fixtures enable Sears to display merchandise more creatively in Kids & More than in a typical Sears children's department.

PHOTO : Right: Sears has repositioned toys as an impulse department within its Kids & More superstore format. Execs expect to generate three times the traffic here compared to when toys were merchandised near automotives and sporting goods.

PHOTO : Multi-colored balloons (upper left) celebrate the opening of Sears' new power children's department, Kids & more, on second floor of Merrillville, Ind., store.

PHOTO : In the jeans shop (upper right), Levi's signage is given even greater prominence than Sears' own Toughskins jeans label.

PHOTO : Reflecting Sears' greater emphasis on name brands, the Kids & More boys' shop (left) carries such apparel labels as Levi's, Le Tigre, Cotler, Zeppelin, Converse, Dockers and Bugle Boy. Kids & More avoids the sea of racks normally found at children's apparel stores.

PHOTO : Tonnage table (right), with bottoms at $12.88, emphasizes the value equation on basic items.

PHOTO : Right: Younger children's apparel still features a large selection of exclusive Sears merchandise, such as Winnie the Pooh clothing.

PHOTO : Below: Hoping to turn mothers-to-be into regular Kids & More shoppers after baby is born, Sears places maternity shop adjacent to newborn and baby needs area.

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