Waking up dress shirts - Men - AM: Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Sept 2, 1991 by Arnold J. Karr

Waking up dress shirts

The infusion of color that's ignited the men's neckwear business has spread to the colar and cuff. The nation's mass merchants think that it may be just what's needed for waking up their anemic dress-shirt departments.

This fall suppliers of both branded and private-label merchandise will make their first substantial shipments of "fashion darks" and dress shirts made from sportswear fabrics, such as denim and chambray. Mass merchandisers are hoping that they will have the same upward effect on margins as does the current crop of conversational and floral neckwear, which has made men's ties one of the few areas posting increases in retail this year.

Dress-shirt departments certainly could use the help. Between 1989 and 1990, sales of men's dress shirts fell 8.3% on a unit basis, compounding a 6.6% decline in 1989, according to MRCA Information Services, Stamford, Conn. Overall, men's wear was down 2.4% in 1990 and 0.5% in 1989.

Although department and specialty stores recently have received a shot in the arm as such hues as black, gold, green, khaki and dusty blue have offset declines in basic solid dress shirts, most mass-market merchants have remained barely afloat in a sea of white, blue, yellow and pink. Mass-market retailers continue to believe that their customers look to them for basic merchandise at low prices. Still, they've been impressed by the positive reaction to some of the more advanced neckwear looks they've featured on the floor, and they appear willing at least to test a similar approach in dress shirts.

"Neckwear enjoyed an excellent spring season with faster turns than I've seen in a long time," says Joel Freedman, buyer of shirts and furnishings for the 80-unit Venture Inc. organization based in O'Fallon, Mo. "Dress shirts haven't been quite as upbeat, but they are improving. We're ahead of last year, which wasn't particularly good, and trending upward as we see more emphasis on fashion, particularly in colors. Dress shirts have turned around. We've already seen the worst."

Freedman notes that most surges in the dress-shirt market take place during periods of color emphasis, such as the one that accompanied the "Peacock Revolution" of the late 1960s. "The public doesn't respond to collar stories and fiber stories and fit stories the way they do to color stories in this classification," he says. "Now we're seeing, mostly in broadcloths, the old pinks and blues going by the wayside and being replaced by rose, blue and black chambrays and dusty broadcloths."

For fall '91, Venture's purchases from Manhattan and the store's "615" private-label program will include broadcloth, chambray and denim dress shirts in the darker shades, even some made of all cotton. "With cotton denim and chambray at $20, we're going to compare very well with the department stores selling them for $15 or $20 more," Freedman says. "It's high for us but a great perceived value, a comparable product at about half the price."

Furthermore, plans already have been made to include the new tones on short-sleeved shirts for spring '92. Short sleeves accounted for about 70% of Venture's dress-shirt business between March and April. Freedman expects that because those shirts are often bought for "double duty," both dress and sport, the dramatic increase in the use of color will be an important sales incentive.

Manhattan, one of several labels once relegated to "upstairs" selling, has sought to position itself as a fashion leader for the mass merchandisers since it elected to concentrate on that market five years ago. Consequently, it has taken a fairly aggressive position toward some of the newer looks even when they have carried it into relatively high retail price points, such as $15.99 for blends and $19.99 for all cottons.

The upscale mass merchants are responding to those new directions in dress shirts," says Gary LaPoff, vice president and national sales manager of Salant's Manhattan Brand Shirts operation in New York. "Down the road, as more of these stores move into larger metropolitan areas, they're going to have to show more fashion at higher prices. It won't happen right away, but they'll find that they can sell it."

Manhattan Brand Shirts does business with about 40 mass-market accounts, and LaPoff says all but a few are carrying at least a sampling of the new dark look in versions of black, rust, mustard and green. The color story is represented in the areas of regular fit, athletic fit (Intrepid by Manhattan) and big and tall sizes. Furthermore, says LaPoff, the look will be available as part of Manhattan's EDI (electronic data interchange) system, which allows for automatic stock replenishment by stores.

One of Manhattan's principal competitors for branded business is The Apparel Group, which markets Reed st. James dress shirts to mass merchandisers. Norman Grossman, executive vice president of merchandising for the New York-based firm, concedes that he has some reservations about the potential of darker, sportier dress furnishings.