Fleecewear brand war heats up - knit activewear sales at discount stores

Discount Store News, Jan 8, 1990 by Kenneth M. Chanko

Fleeceware Brand War Heats Up

NEW YORK -- If the early 1980s were the years of the designer jeans wars at upscale retailers, then the early 1990s will be known as "The Battle of the Fleece Brands" at the mass merchants.

With fleecewear a big growth commodity category for the '90s compared to the mature basic underwear and jeans markets, the major branded manufacturers are flocking to fleecewear. The days when a manufacturer--and a discounter--could be confident that the consumer will pick out just any old private label sweatshirt or pant are coming to an abrupt close.

While categories like jeans, underwear and others are still much more brand-oriented, today's major manufacturers of fleecewear supplying the discount trade are doing their best to raise the brand consciousness of the consumer.

The latest barrage in the fleecewear brand war comes from Basset-Walker (B-W), which is now manufacturing sweats under the Lee label for the first time. B-W will be shipping its initial inventory of Lee fleecewear later this month.

"This move allows us to compete head-on with Fruit-of-the-Loom and Hanes," said Dean Jarrett, spokesman for B-W, which is owned by the VF Corp., which also owns Lee. "In this market today, if you can't hook up with a nationally recognized brand name, you're pretty much dead in the water."

Just last year, Fruit-of-the-Loom (FOL) started shipping fleecewear directly to discounters (as opposed to screen printers) that carried the FOL label. Four years ago, FOL wasn't in the fleece business at all. John Wigodsky, vice president of marketing for activewear at FOL, said "We've been adding significant capacity. We're emerging as a major player."

He noted that FOL will be adding a heavier weight, 11-oz. fleece line for fall 1990, to complement its current 7 3/4-oz. product.

Just this past fall, Hanes debuted a major national TV ad campaign featuring pro football star Joe Montana in a spot highlighting the company's new fleecewear products.

Since acquiring fleece manufacturer Pannill Knitting Co., Sara Lee Personal Products, which also owns the Hanes name, has become a major fleecewear player.

The other major branded fleecewear label in this market is Jerzies, a name Russell created a few years ago for the discount trade.

There are a few other fleece manufacturers, like Tultex, that up until now have done well without the benefit of a nationally-advertised brand name.

B-W's move is unique in that Lee is the first jeans brand to also lend its high-visibility name to a brand of sweats.

Jan Kissimon, vice president of consumer marketing at B-W, said "Sweats are very compatible with the Lee name--much more so than underwear. A lot of people wear a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. It's a natural."

Kissimon, who said talks had begun two years ago to change the B-W name to Lee, added that the B-W name was strong in the trade but that it didn't have a high awareness level with the consumer.

For now, the sweats will feature only an inside Lee label, although the company isn't ruling out a possible outside-stitched Lee label down the road.

Among the discounters getting the first Lee fleecewear shipments will be Jamesway, Target, Hills Department Stores, Montgomery Ward and Meijer Thrifty Acres.

For most of last year, Target has been carrying B-W's "Sturdy Sweats by Lee" label (a strange hybrid of store label--"Sturdy Sweats"--and brand name--Lee). Wal-Mart has also been carrying since last June "Wrangler" sweats, which B-W manufactures exclusively for the giant discounter. B-W also manufactures JCPenney's "Olympic Sweats" private-label line.

Upgrades Facilities

In preparation for the big move to the Lee label, B-W has been upgrading its facilities, equipment and its quality control program.

National TV commercials for Lee sweats will air for the back-to-school period later this year. Jarrett said that by the end of September there should be as many as 13.2 million Lee fleecewear units on mass merchant shelves nationwide.

"This name change marks a new beginning for our company," said William Horne Jr., president of B-W, in a prepared statement. "The Lee name enjoys tremendous popularity and market share in other clothing categories, and we believe that our quality fleecewear bearing the Lee name can establish itself quickly as a market leader."