Consumers, managers disagree on kid's wear - discount houses, children's clothing

Discount Store News, Oct 18, 1993

Once again store managers and consumers were at odds about children's wear brands.

Only four brand names appeared on both the Top 10 list of consumers' preferred brands and store managers' Top 10 list of brands. The common brands: Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Lee and Wrangler. Fisher-Price, which led in manager mentions, did not appear at all on the list of 22 brand names of children's wear cited by consumers.

In this category more than any other in apparel, evidence of cross shopping is strong. Consumers obviously buy children's wear in department and specialty stores, prompting them to name brands like OshKosh, Nike, and Bugle Boy. These brands may be found in upscale regional discounters, but shoppers of Kmart, Wal-Mart and Target were just as likely to mention them.

OshKosh was mentioned by shoppers at each of the three large chains. Levi's, another department store label, was No. 2 at Kmart and Target. Fruit of the Loom was No. 2 among Wal-Mart Shoppers, which helped place it at No. 4

The discrepancy between store manager and consumer mentions--and the easy movement of brands within the managers' chart--also suggest that in children's, brands are less important than styles offered.

Infant brands like Health-Tex, Carters and diaper brands such as Pampers and Huggies are staples in the consumer lists. However, the fashion brands for toddlers and older children move easily around the chart depending on the year's styles and fashions.

The lack of loyalty is also evident in other findings. About 68% of shoppers said they would be willing to buy a store brand or private label. That response placed children's wear fourth highest among categories in which consumers are willing to buy private label goods. It followed stationery, greeting cards and glasses and dishware, where brands are less vital to the category.

About 60% of respondents said they would switch children's wear brands if they didn't find the one they wanted. That followed stationery, greeting cards, domestics, blank videocassettes and personal are appliances. Only 40% of consumers noted they would skip a purchase if they did not find their preferred brand, the lowest percentage among the apparel categories. About 35% of consumers said they were certain of finding of brand they wanted.

There also appear to be different shopping habits among various demographics. For Busters (those under 35) and Boomers (35 to 49), the top brands were consistent with the overall chart, though Pampers and Garanimals made in-roads with Busters.

The intersecting results, however, were among the Empty Nesters (those 50 plus). Marketers have known the appeal of "Grandma bait" and the money it can generate. According to the survey, Empty Nesters are happy to share the wealth. This group mentioned more brands (13) as top performers in children's wear than any other. Many brands were tied in rankings and the percentage of mentions was more readily distributed among them.

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