Fisher-Price leads category in kids' duds - children's clothing at discount stores - Top Brands, Part 1: Store Manager Survey

Discount Store News, Oct 1, 1990

Fisher-Price Leads Category in Kids' Duds

Gitano and Wrangler, brand names familiar to adults, have appeared for the first time on DSN's Top Brands list in children's apparel.

Store managers from both conventional and upscale discount stores gave the two popular brands high marks for being good performers in the children's apparel category. Apparently, parents want these labels and they will readily buy them for their children. These factors coincide with the increasing trend at discounters to focus on national brands.

Demographics would also explain the results in this category. The current baby boomlet is increasing the demand for more products with fashion labels. Gitano, especially, is proving a formidable up-start in the children's area.

This is one category where there appears to be no clear-cut winner. Many labels did well depending on the store and the region.

Fisher-Price led the category overall, with Lee coming in second. Interestingly enough, Fisher-Price fared better at conventional discounters, while Lee did better at upscale discounters.

The rest of the Top 10 list, in order, included Gitano, Liberty, Wrangler, Gerber, OshKosh, Curity, Garanimals and Spencer's.

Of all the apparel areas, the children's category showed the greatest change. Health-Tex, a perennial favorite, is off the Top 10 list for the first time since 1986. This year, it ranked 12th.

Fruit of the Loom, which improved its stance in the women's and men's area, lost ground in children's. Also off the Top 10 list is Garan and Pampers.

Replacing these labels are Gitano, which ranked third in its first time on DSN's 1990 Top Brands Survey, Wrangler, Gerber and Spencer's.

Lee a Consistent Performer

Though Lee was ousted from first place in this year's survey, it landed in a respectable second place. To its credit, Lee has been the most consistent performer in the survey. The label has stayed in the top five since 1986, and topped the list for the last two years. Even in the current survey, it is only two percentage points away from first place.

Although Curity dropped to eighth place this year, if it were combined with Gerber--they are both part of Gerber Childrenswear Inc., Greenville, S.C.--it would have tied with Fisher-Price for first place, and only two percentage points more than second place Lee, reaffirming that the field is wide open in children's wear.

For all the movement in this category, the wealth is shared relatively evenly among the brands. While Fisher-Price and Lee are by far mentioned the most often, the other labels are running neck-to-neck. Even those not making the Top 10 list are doing well at certain chains.

At K mart, Fisher-Price and Spencer's are equally mentioned as top performers.

Lee and Gitano share equal billing at Ames.

At Target, the distribution is even greater, with Fisher-Price, Lee, Gitano, Gerber, Curity and Fruit of the Loom doing equally well at the chain.

Only at Wal-Mart is there a decisive winner. Fisher-Price was mentioned by one quarter of the store managers in that chain. Liberty came in a close second.

In total, respondents mentioned 26 different children's wear brands in the survey.

The scenario changes little when studied by region. Each region seems to have not one, but two favorites among the respondents. And again, those in third, fourth and fifth place are gaining ground quickly.

Fisher-Price and Liberty were mentioned by two out of every 10 store managers in the South. The South also had a tie for second place between Gerber and Gitano.

Garanimals also did well in the South, placing third in that region. It was not mentioned, however, by managers in either the Northeast or the West. Garanimals is another label that has maintained its showing in the Top 10, though off its high of four years ago when it led this category.

In the West, very fittingly, Wrangler ranked first among the brands. OshKosh and Fisher-Price tied for second.

Lee managed to secure a more definitive first place finish in both the Northeast and the North Central regions. Brand recognition and good price points were cited as reasons for Lee's success throughout.

Gitano placed second in the Northeast.

OshKosh was second in the North Central states. Though further down the Top 10 in the North Central region, when Gerber and Curity are added together they hold a firm second place showing. The two labels together are only one percentage point away from first place in this area.

Though Gitano did well overall, it had a poor showing in the West. The label ranked higher in the other regions identified.

Gitano's high placement in this year's overall survey was helped by its especially good performance at upscale discounters. It was the leading brand, by a wide margin, within this tier. Fisher-Price, with a narrower margin, was first among conventional discounters.

Both Liberty, which moved from sixth to fourth place this year, and newcomer Spencer's managed to place well based on its performance at conventional discounters alone. They were not mentioned by upscale discounters.