Sears' men's wear has brand appeal

Sear's Men's Wear Has Brand Appeal

AURORA, Ill. -- Seeking to become a major player in men's apparel, Sear's new "The Men's Store at Sears" represents a totally revamped department for the nation's No. 1 volume retailer.

"In the men's superstore, we have a unique opportunity to leverage off our strong appeal to the men's market from our hard line goods," said Michael Bozic, chairman and ceo of the Sears Merchandise Group. "We've done this in our new men's apparel superstore by strongly and consistently communicating the concepts of quality and serviceability--the same values men think of when they think of Sears."

Earlier this year, Sears targeted all three of its apparel categories--men's, women's and children's--as "power departments," with the goal of becoming the top destination retailer in the mind of the consumer for that category. In the past, Sears' apparel departments have been underperformers.

"Like our first two superstores--`Brand Central' and `Kids & More'--`The Men's Store at Sears' is part of our larger strategy to increase market share through more sharply focused assortments carried in depth," said Warren Flick, vice president of men's and children's apparel for the Merchandise Group.

With the new department, Flick added, "We are and will increasingly be a distributor of respected national brands carried by department stores that have earned a franchise with the American consumer. We will deliver each brand's agenda as we simultaneously combine efficiencies of scale and logistics with a high level of service to produce the best value for the consumer."

Shift in Merchandise Mix

The new men's wear department, which was unveiled in this Chicago suburb early last month (see story, DSN, June 19, 1989, page 1), represents substantial changes in merchandise mix, presentation and pricing in men's wear for Sears.

Six distinctive categories are set off within the department: young men's sportswear, activewear, big and tall, dress furnishings, classic sportswear and men's workwear. Sears has dropped dress clothing--suits as well as sports jackets and dress slacks--and has devoted much more space to the first four categories listed.

The overall size of the new men's wear department--at 16,500 square feet, or 19 percent of total selling space at this store--is more than 30 percent larger than the old department. However, certain markets are going to get two smaller versions--12,300 and 10,300 square feet.

By comparison, the new "Kids & More" department is 25,000 square feet, representing an 85 percent increase in space. Of the 25,000 square feet, approximately 21,000 square feet is devoted to apparel. The old children's apparel department was slightly over 11,000 square feet, as was the old men's wear department.

Much of the increased space came from reduction of stockroom footage. Eric Saunders, senior vice president of apparel and home fashions, said, "As Sam Walton has proven, everyday low pricing makes product flow much more predictable."

Now that Sears doesn't have to keep merchandise sitting in stockrooms waiting for sales, stockroom space has been greatly reduced, Saunders said.

In brands-vs.-private label mix, the department now features 60 percent national brands, a major increase for Sears. (Sears is at a 50 percent brands ratio in its "Kids & More" department.)

To be "offered at our everyday low prices," according to Flick, will be such national brands/labels as: John Weitz and Adolfo (dress shirts), Revenge (casual woven shirts), Grand Slam and OshKosh (knit shirts), Farah (slacks), Bon Homme, Bugle Boy, Cotler, and Left Bank.

Also, Pier Connection, Santana, Zeppelin (young men's sportswear), Jimmy Connors, Reebok, Weider (activewear), Hobie (seasonal), Adidas and Champion (hosiery), Lee and Levi's (jeans), Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, Playboy (underwear), Dickies and Walls (workwear), Jordache (sweaters), Clippermist (all-weather outerwear) and Bill Blass, Isotoner, Pierre Cardin and Totes (accessories).

With these brand names, among others to come, Sears has traded up on many of its national brands to take them out of direct competition with most discounters. Later this month, through an exclusive arrangement made late last year, a complete collection of men's casual sportswear from OshKosh will be arriving on store shelves.

Even though skewing itself more toward national brands, Sears is hardly abandoning private label. In addition to its Arnie, Oakton Limited and TraderBay store labels, the chain will be introducing for fall a new Sears label, called "Since 1886," which in men's wear will be a line of updated traditional sportswear in tops and bottoms.

The layout puts young men's and fashion-forward seasonal looks front-and-center. The design is also "customer-friendly," said Flick, adding, "We've reduced the aisle-to-backwall sightline by 50 percent. This not only doubles the main aisle space available for merchandise, but it also lets customers see clearly through the shops to find the goods they want."

Such sophisticated department store-type presentation and merchandising techniques such as tablestacking, kiosk focals, video monitors, upscale lifestyle graphics displays--and even shops-with-in-store concepts--are all being used by Sears in its new men's wear department.

In the fashion-sensitive young men's sportswear area--a category previously not broken out within the giant retailer's men's wear department--upscale merchandising techniques are everywhere, including a nine-monitor wall which plays music videos, slick fashion ads and other images. Merchandise in young men's sportswear (the targeted age group is 16-to-24) will be changed more frequently "to stay in tune with changing fashion trends," said Flick.

The young men's department also features four-way racks on wheels to facilitate quick-change possibilities to keep the area looking fresh, said Flick.

For the current spring/summer season, an elaborate Hobie beach/surf display with accompanying merchandise greets the customer arriving by escalator on the second floor. For fall, said Flick, a sweater display and merchandise will replace Hobie.

Within activewear, a section called "Local Pride" features items manufactured by Champion with the names of area high schools and "will be localized for every market," said Flick.

A jeans area is dominated by Levi's, Lee and Sedgefield.

Located behind sportswear is "Work Wearhouse," a true shop-within-a-store design featuring just two entrances/exits.

The other shop-with-in-a-store is Big and Tall, a category previously pushed only in Sears' catalog business. In the shop, which features both Levi's and Dockers brand names as well as Interwoven hosiery, big and tall categories offered include sportswear, underwear, hosiery, outerwear, dress shirts and neckwear (but, surprisingly, no activewear or fleece products).

Next to sportswear is an impressive Dockers presentation. The retailer's Arnie golf shirt line--"the standard in the industry," said Flick--is front-and-center in the knit and woven shirt area. Sports-specific hosiery--from Adidas, Reebok and Champion--is being offered for the first time. Dress shirts, furnishings and accessories have also been expanded.

Prices undercut Sears' specialty apparel mall store competition, and in some cases rival discounters. Examples include Levi's 501 jeans at $17.96, Adolfo dress shirts at $19.50 (no dress shirts top the $20 mark) and Dockers slacks--on sale--for $24.96. The regular price for the basic Dockers casual slacks is $34.

PHOTO : The new 'Men's Store at Sears' features an upscaled look with the addition of video monitors and displays like this "Surf Zone' seasonal presentation. The men's wear department now boasts 60 percent national brands.

COPYRIGHT 1989 Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group