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A number of centenarian department store organizations are showing they’re still young and frisky.
Sears, which has been in the department store business for nearly 125 years, recently announced the launch of Now + Here, a new department aimed at juniors and young men.
Parent company Sears Holdings Corp. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), has called it “part of our overall apparel transformation,” an upgrade effort being driven by John Goodman, Sears’ new executive vp, apparel and home.
Pretty progressive for a retailer known more for vacuum cleaners and power tools, but typically running a few lengths behind the fashion apparel trends. Not only is it a strong statement that Sears is getting back in the game, but it’s also a clarion call for the department store sector as a whole. In fact, there’s a flurry of activity from this group of retailers who’ve seen their supremacy slip in the last couple of decades.
Fashion Focus
“Actually, the department store concept is as viable as ever,” says Steve Gardner, vp, department stores, at FRCH Design Worldwide (Cincinnati). “In this economy, convenience is more and more important, the ability to get a wide array of goods all under one roof in one shopping expedition. But department stores have to re-examine their strategies and take a whole new look at how their shopping environments can reconnect with a younger shopper – not only those looking for value but also those looking for fashion and trendiness.”
It’s a territory the department stores once dominated. But what made them so viable – large store environments packed with nearly every category of merchandise – is also what made them vulnerable. Their selection wasn’t as sharp as the boutiques nor as deep as the category-killers, and their prices couldn’t compete with the discount mass-merchandisers. The only way they found to compete on price was by a constant flurry of markdowns, coupons and special sales. As the 20th Century came to a close, a common observation was that the only reason to go to the department store was for those 40-percent-off prices. And if something’s full-price today, wait, it will go on sale tomorrow. It made the whole department store offering seem shabby.
But the good news is, a decade into the new century, many of those aging department store organizations are jumping into the new-initiatives pool.
Music and Fashion
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