Thursday
December 11, 2008
Office Depot has announced that they are closing 112 under performing stores over the next three months. In addition, they are slowing their expansion plans for 2009. Three stores are closing in my area. Office Depot joins Circuit City, Linens N Things and Boscov’s as retailers who have closed up shop in Monmouth County.
Last year, Office Max closed all but one of their locations in my county. With Office Depot leaving, this leaves Staples as the only national office supply chain with more than one location here.
Kohl’s has announced that they’ve entered into an agreement with Iconix Brands to become the sole distributor of Mudd Apparel. Starting in July of 2009, Kohl’s will oversee the product design and manufacturing of the Mudd line. Kohl’s currently carries the Mudd line in Juniors and Girls apparel, sleepwear, jewelry, accessories, and footwear. While the deal does not include the exclusivity to the footwear line, this deal expands on the success that Kohl’s has seen with the exclusive Candies’ brand license within the same departments.
In other Kohl’s news: Former Kohl’s executive vice president, Thomas Kingsbury, has been named the new president and CEO of Burlington Coat Factory. Kingsbury was previously the CEO and president of the Filene’s/Kaufmann’s division of May Department Stores. Kingsbury joined Kohl’s after Federated Department Stores acquired Department Stores.
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Read more about: apparel, candies, iconix, Kohl's, mudd, office, office depot, officemax, staples, store closing, thomas kingsbury
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Wednesday
August 15, 2007
The Channel Checkers are reporting that Kohl’s has started selling Vera Wang merchandise earlier than the advertised street date of September 9:
We have been surprised so far in our survey. 12 of the 25 (48%) stores we have called this week have told us that they already have the Vera Wang line and are selling it. We were told there is a Vera Wang perfume on sale at Kohl’s now too. Many of the stores that have the line appear to be in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. Stores in Washington and Oregon and South Carolina and Georgia provided the bulk of our positive responses. We called one store in New York City and they claim to be stocking the line already as well.
Read more at their site under: Vera Wang Line Sneaking Into Kohl’s Early.
In the past, Kohl’s generally rolls out their national branch launches in highly coordinated affairs, unveiling the new line in all of the markets on the same day. We saw this in 2005 with the launch of Candies, as an exclusive Kohl’s brand, and we’ve seen it through the past few years of growth in the Chaps brand. These launches, from new fixturing to promotions to actual merchandise are all tied in to hit the stores on the same day, with major national ad campaigns behind them.
There are exceptions to this: Casa Cristina rolled out in the Southwest in Q4 2006 prior to a national launch in early 2007. More contemporary lines, such as Elle and Stamp 10, have seen staggered growth after successful launches. The retailer has also tested new products and concepts on smaller levels before rolling out nationally – case in point is the recent addition of a private-label tuxedo line to the menswear departments of their stores in a slow rollout.
It does surprise me to hear that Kohl’s may have let this merchandise out early. It seems to be against their past behavior. Is Kohl’s really selling Vera Wang merchandise early in an attempt to reach out to some test markets? This is the largest brand launch in the retailer’s history – so perhaps it is time to do things differently than they have in the past.
More on the Skype / Wal-Mart deal, from Skype itself.
Mentioned it the other day, but today more details came out about the Kohl’s sponsorship of Fergie’s tour. Should be a good promotion for the retailer and help to increase awareness of the Candies’ brand. I don’t recall any marketing push on this kind of level with the past two Candies’ girls for Kohl’s (Hillary Duff & Cheyenne), so maybe the third time is a charm.
10 Reasons it is Better to Sell Apparel to Dogs Than Humans. Estimates are that 2007 will see over $40 billion spent in America on pets, and here’s the reasons why the field is wide open for retailers.
The temperature is rising and sunny days are forecasted ahead. Since Spring is finally here, I’ve decided to do some spring cleaning around here. Changed some things around, aesthetically, that I have been wanting to do for a little while. Sure it’s not much that anyone will notice.
Also, starting today, you will be seeing this as a new feature on the site: “Express Lane: 10 items or less” will be a near-daily collection of links to news stories and websites that I am finding interesting but may not get a chance to really write about. I had intended to start doing it as a weekly feature, but really, I come across so much stuff on a daily basis that I want to share in this blog and it is about time I start doing that.
For today:
Consumerist, always with the inside information, has a great piece from a former Best Buy employee talking about the lengths he went to in order to sign up people for “free trials” of software and services. With the ongoing RICO case against Best Buy and Microsoft, expect more former exployees to step forward like this one.
Not too long after more details have come out about Wal-Marts plans to enter India, the other half of the joint-venture (Bharti group) is entering into another joint-venture to train the retail workforce in India.
Sales at duty-free shops in Indian airports have declined since the restrictions on liquids have gone into effect.
Didn’t realize that Fergie has launched her own solo tour and the only way to get tickets is through a million promotions from Verizon Wireless or by going to select Kohl’s stores and trying on Candies’ clothing. More info at the Candies website.
More photos from work:
Top to bottom: Misses’ Chaps, Misses’ Daisy Fuentes, Juniors’ Candies, Men’s Chaps, Young Mens’ Tony Hawk, Boys’ Chaps and Women’s Apt. 9 & Daisy Fuentes.
