Top men's wear brand shuffles positions - at discount stores - Top Brands, Part 1: Store Manager Survey

Discount Store News, Oct 1, 1990

Top Men's Wear Brand Shuffle Positions

It was a close race in the men's wear brand rally. Fruit of the Loom just barely regained its 1987 position as the leading men's label in DSN's 1990 Top Brands Survey, edging out Wrangler.

Fruit of the Loom rose to the top spot this year by jumping two places, ahead of No. 2 Wrangler and Lee, which led the top brands list in 1989.

The roster for the top five brands included the same names as last year, although somewhat reshuffled. Wrangler, a fraction off first place, stayed in second position for the fourth year. Hanes moved up to third from fourth place, where it had been since 1986, and Lee went from No. 1 in 1989 to No. 4 this year, its worst ranking since DSN's Top Brands Survey began five years ago. Levi's remained fifth.

In what has been a volatile men's market, both Fruit of the Loom and Levi's have two labels--Wrangler and Gitano, respectively--following so closely behind them that the slightest shift could mean a change in position.

Fruit of the Loom was mentioned as a top performer by 30% of survey respondents, while Wrangler was mentioned by 29% of managers.

Wrangler also did better with conventional discounters, while Fruit of the Loom, in a change from last year, performed better among the upscale discounters. The two were ranked just as closely last year, though then, Lee over-shadowed both brands.

In the other photo finish in this category, both Levi's and Gitano were mentioned by 9% of the respondents. In fact, Gitano managed to overtake Levi's at upscale discounters, while still holding its own at conventional discount stores. Differences at specific stores attributed to the close races.

At K mart, for instance, Wrangler was the store leader, while at Ames, Lee ranked first in men's wear brands. Fruit of the Loom obtained its standing by being the leader at Wal-Mart and second at Target, which cited most often Brittania as a top performer.

Hanes made the biggest move in the survey from last year. A quarter of the respondents named it as a leading performer at their stores. The label has consistently done better at upscale discounters, but this year also bettered its position at conventional discounters.

The largest move downward was Levi's. The company's other brand, Brittania (No. 8 in the overall survey), would not have advanced Levi's placement, but added together would have given it a more secure fifth position.

While Levi's lost some momentum at both conventional and upscale discounters, Brittania gained ground in both sectors. Brittania did especially well at upscale discounters where on its own, it would have ranked fifth. Target store managers cited it most often as a leading brand.

The company that would have faired even better when its various brand names were figured together was Wrangler. Added to responses from the Rustler brand (ranked seventh in the survey), it would have been a clear leader in the men's category, garnering responses from four out of 10 managers.

At upscale discounters, the results were even better for Wrangler. Half the upscale discount store managers said Wrangler and Rustler together was a top performer. Wrangler itself lost some ground at conventional discounters. But, it scored higher than last year at upscale discounters, with mentions by one-quarter of that tier's managers.

The second half of the Top 10, in order, include Gitano, Rustler, Brittania, McGregor and Dickies.

Rustler is the newest addition to the list. It ousted Manhattan, which this year was mentioned by less than one out of every 10 store managers.

Dickies continued its downward slide. The brand ranked fourth in 1988, fifth in 1989, and fell to 10th place in the current survey. The brand did hold its own at Wal-Mart where managers placed it ahead of both Brittania and Lee.

McGregor also showed a slight decline from last year. However, the label faired better than Wrangler, Hanes, Gitano and Rustler at Ames, according to survey responses. It also garnered more mentions than Levi's and Gitano at Target stores. Interestingly enough, McGregor was mentioned by two out of 10 store managers in the Northeast, doing better in that region than Levi's, Gitano, Rustler, Dickies and Brittania.

Other regional differences were not as surprising. Fruit of the Loom led in the North Central region, but came in a solid second in the rest of the country. Wrangler led in both the South and the West and was mentioned by three out of 10 store managers in those regions. Rustler made the top five in the South.

Lee was mentioned most often in the Northeast, by four out of every 10 managers.

The survey's Top 10 list, however, is not the end-all list. There were many labels that did not make the comprehensive Top 10, but that individual stores cited as top performers.

The Big Yank brand, for instance, was mentioned by K mart managers more often than Lee, Levi's, Brittania, McGregor and Dickies.

At Wal-Mart, Reed st. James was mentioned more often than Lee, Brittania and Dickies.

At Target Stores, BVD was mentioned more often by that chain's store managers than Levi's and Gitano.