Rag Business

Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) has announced the formation of a multi-year exclusive agreement with Tarrant Apparel Group (Los Angeles) to a new casual sportswear collection called American Rag CIE.

The line, for juniors and young men — based on merchandise sold by trendy California retailer American Rag — will be available beginning in August in approximately 100 Macy's, Bon Marche, Burdines, Goldsmith's, Lazarus and Rich's-Macy's locations.

Tarrant is one of the country's largest private-label apparel providers. Federated's Merchandising Group will be working with Private Brands Inc., a newly formed, wholly owned Tarrant subsidiary. Private Brands will design and manufacture the collection, which will be distributed by FMG exclusively to the participating Federated stores. The launch will be supported with in-store displays and a national marketing campaign.

American Rag opened its first multi-brand and vintage clothing store in San Francisco in 1984, followed by its Los Angeles flagship store on La Brea Avenue in 1985.

“We will be utilizing the American Rag La Brea location as a test store to create a collection that will be what our customer is looking for now,” said FMG chairman and ceo Janet Grove.