Men's boxers latest contender: new, updated underwear styles appeal to Xers

Discount Store News, Sept 4, 1995 by James Mammarella

NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT - While discounters have been rapidly expanding their fashion offerings in women's intimate departments, men's dainties are causing a stir across the aisle.

Assortments in men's underwear at some chains have gained in variety, tapping several distinct trends: Younger men, Generation Xers, are wearing boxers and so are many women--as shorts. Briefs still hold a commanding lead over boxers, but the momentum is shifting.

Overall, the men's underwear category is broken into T-shirts, A-shirts, briefs and boxers. According to consumer research by NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y., the percentage of category sales captured by briefs dropped last year for the first time since the survey began in 1988. Briefs made up 62.6% of volume in 1993 and fell to 60.2% in 1994.

Boxers scored big gains. The silhouette grew by 27% in unit volume over '93, to capture 15% of the category. In dollar volume, that translated to 28% of men's underwear sales. At 8.9 million dozen units, boxers rang up $509 million in all retail channels last year.

Discounters' share of that volume is growing fast. For the 12 months ending May 94, discount stores sold 52% of the units; for the year ending May 95 the mass channel share rose to 58%.

Best of all, retail prices are up. Whereas only 6% of boxers were priced at more than $6 in 1988, last year 23% sold in that range. In 1988, half of all boxers sold in the $2 to $3 range; by 94, only one-third sold at those opening price points.

Much of the current growth is driven by fashion. Within the boxer silhouette, there are choices between classic tie-pattern prints, stripes and plaids, novelties and even natural (unbleached cotton) looks.

Part of boxers' attractiveness comes from identification with basketball styles, and there is an overall melding of innerwear and outerwear design. But the activewear goods are ablaze with shine, mesh, bright colors and other characteristics of nylon and polyester fabrication--while in underwear boxers, the softer, updated traditional looks are the rule, and knit goods are rising in popularity.

Wovens have long been the dominant type in this silhouette, and silk models enjoyed a burst of popularity several years ago. Now, with consumer interest in knits, manufacturers see a chance to bring brief wearers into boxerland. The hybrid "boxer briefs" are setting a strong pace among knit offerings.

Why boxer briefs? "It comes out of the upstairs market," said John Dineen, men's dmm at Jamesway.

He traces the stylistic influence to the 1890s, more evidence of the popularity of updated classics.

Dineen called men's boxers in general "a bright spot." He noted that while white remains the strongest color, commodity goods are also moving briskly in black and heather. Hanes and Fruit of the Loom dominate. Dineen also said regular price business is "holding its own" in the category, with little need for markdowns.

Woven boxer two-packs and three-packs typically retail from $7.49 to $10.99 at most discount stores.

A Father's Day promotion last June at Jamesway was successful in helping to introduce the boxer brief. Customers who bought a six-pack of Hanes briefs got one free pair of boxer briefs. The hybrid also receives prime real estate. "We endcap it," said Dineen, "and we've given it a special location on a power aisle, running next to the regular basic runs."

At Caldor, the whole men's undergarment area is powered by boxers. Two narrow feature walls stand out as boxer bookends. One features private label outdoors-influenced flannels in plaids and stripes with alternate-trim cuffs, retailing at $9.99.

The other wall shows Bottom Drawer licensed plaids with college athletic logos on embroidered patches. This display is part of the underwear department, presented separately but adjacent to the team sports area.

Caldor runs FOTL and Hanes woven boxers in with T-shirts, A-shirts and briefs on regular gondolas. But the real interest in the department, aside from the feature walls, comes from endcaps and stand-alone racks. Here the merchandise is mainly boxers, and typically, Caldor is testing brands, private label across a broad style selection.

The assortment on feature racks includes woven BVD boxers in stripes at $7.99, house brand Flying Colors woven boxers at $7.99, American Cotton knits with a superior color palette at $8.99 and a Spalding unbleached selection in briefs and boxers. Caldor is also testing whimsical upstairs designer Joe Boxer's mass channel line, Under (Exposed), at $7.99.

Woven novelty print boxers dance across a feature wall at Kmart, with some knit boxer briefs mixed in along with silks on gondola runs.

Kmart pushes the price point to $11.88 on traditional and contemporary print silk boxers, which it carries in quantity under the Stefano Rossini label. Mickey Unlimited is a key license among Kmart's novelty print assortment.

Mark Minsky, senior vp, gmm soft lines at Caldor, sees fair but flat business in character and novelty prints. Other key apparel trends have become important in boxers, he observed, ticking off styles: "Textures, thermals, more cotton, contrasting waist bands and tartan plaids."