Clothes make the man; women buy the clothes - Dayton Hudson Corp. Target Stores; Growth Retailer of the '90s

Discount Store News, Sept 17, 1990

Clothes Make the Man; Women Buy the Clothes

In men's apparel, it is still a woman's world. At Target, women continue to play the significant part in purchasing men's clothing.

Overall, during 1989 women ought 78% of men's sweaters, 77% of men's activewear, 1% of men's socks, and 70% of men's sport shirts, to name just a few clothing items, according to new data from MRCA Information Services.

John Pellegrene, senior vp, marketing, Target Stores, does not dispute this, and admits women account for 10% of Target customers. In act, they figure prominently even in the extensive sports marketing campaigns which Target runs, and account or all of the seats in the customer focus groups it recently interviewed.

"Women are becoming a big, big factor in major league sports, especially younger women," he said. Even in the design of Minneapolis' new sports arena, Timberwolf Center, 60% of the rest rooms have been devoted to women, he said.

While Target is curtailing some traditionally "male" departments at its stores - automotives, hardware and outdoor paint - Pellegrene hopes Target's Greatland store will serve to attract new customers, men included. "I think Greatland is going to attract customers. It certainly isn't claustrophoic. Everything works, the carts, the floors, the aisles, the lighting. It's a nice shopping experience."

But to win over the customer at Greatland, Target first has to get men into the store. It already has devised a number of ways to accomplish that. A campaign featuring fisherman Dave Winkleman resulted in a significant increase in that department, according to Pellegrene. A sports marketing program is also regionalized to cover all Target markets and their local sports teams.

But it may take more than these attempts to change current shopping habits. A detailed look at MRCA's men's apparel data reveals vast differences between the buying habits of men and women in the volume, timing and price of purchase.

"Given the growing number of women in today's work force and their increasingly fast-paced, busy lifestyles," commented John H. Tugman, vice president and general manager of MRCA's soft goods division, "one might expect that men would have to become more self-reliant shoppers. On the contrary, women control even more of the men's apparel market today than they did five years ago. They accounted for a larger share of men's sweaters, activewear, socks, sport shirts, underwear, jeans, jackets, and slacks in 1989 than in 1985."