Smaller Package

May Co. (St. Louis) opened its first smaller-store concept under the Robinsons-May banner at the Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine, Calif. Dubbed a “lifestyle store” by May Co. executives, the store may become a prototype for the retailer.

“We set out to find a dozen stores to create laboratories,” May Co. chairman and ceo Gene Kahn reported to Women's Wear Daily. “These are laboratories for us to learn from.”

The new 140,000-square-foot store features marble floors; more natural light and brighter artificial lighting; stainless-steel express checkout counters, as well as individual cashier stations; and mesh shopping bags and high-tech shopping carts. Designed to attract a younger customer, while not alienating baby boomers, the store places a greater emphasis on casual styles, lifestyle-driven assortments and more fashion for teens, tweens and young contemporary shoppers, including new May private label brands.

The new concept is the latest effort by May Co. to revitalize its department store divisions, which have struggled over the last few years. Analysts project the Robinsons-May store will do $15 million in its first year.

The lifestyle store is the first of up to a dozen test stores in the department store division that May Co. plans to open in the next 30 months. A lifestyle Hecht's, in Greensboro, N.C., and a Filene's in Leominster, Mass., are expected to open soon.