Today, JCPenney has announced the launch of a new activewear line called Xersion. The line, developed, sourced, and designed by the retailer, fits in the “better” pricepoint of Womens activewear. This is one of the six brands JCPenney is launching with this back to school season.
More details are available in their own press release.
Timing of this launch is interesting as Kohl’s readies to launch their exclusive licensing agreement for activewear with Fila. Makes sense that JCPenney would want to ramp up their private label activewear offerings.
Someone forgot to merchandise these products in the J.Crew store:
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.
A bit of lingo that I’ve learned lately: turns out that Target refers to the the impact of the Back to School/Back to College season on their stores, by classifying them into levels. The levels are No Affected, Affected, Freaky, and Super Freaky. It doesn’t appear that there are a lot of Super Freaky stores in the company, but those that are classified as such, are situated within close proximity to college campuses. I wonder what kind of percentage increase these stores see, over the rest of the company, during the season.
Was in an Old Navy this weekend, really briefly. Didn’t get much chance to dive into the new merchandise, but it looks like they are starting to transition into Back to School. Saw that the denim has been moved back to the front on the Missy side and is supported with a new graphic package that looks really sharp. Die cut words calling out the “Denim” shop on the Mens side and the different cuts of denim on the Missy side. Looks like they are cut out of foam core or something similar, but did not get a real good look at it. The picture above is an example of what the Mens side looked like.
I’ve gotta give credit to the store I was at (Freehold, NJ) as they were looking real sharp (presentation wise) going into the weekend. Look at the fold on those jeans! Typically, I haven’t been seeing that when I go to the mall on a Friday afternoon – and honestly, it’s not something I’ve seen at Old Navy all that much lately. First thing in the morning, their stores look great but the on-going maintenance, during the day, isn’t always there. But this store nailed it.
