Casualwear business well suited for mass retailers - men's apparel - Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Oct 21, 1996

Billy Weikert barely sees his suits anymore, much less puts them on. "I've got about 40 suits in my closet, but I just kind of look at them once in a while," says the divisional merchandise manager, menswear, for Hills Department Stores.

That's because Hills, like a lot of American businesses, has gone casual. With their employers' blessings, employees throughout the United States are leaving their neckties and suit pants on the rack and coming to work in wrinkle-free cottons and sport shirts, in some cases every Friday, or, as in Weikert's case, five days a week. In fact, a survey conducted for Apparel Merchandising by the Gallup Organization shows that 66% of employed consumers have a casual day option at least once a week.

Coinciding with this trend is a challenge for consumers: How can they dress down while maintaining a look appropriate to the workplace?

"We've found that many guys whose companies say, `O.K., dress casual,' haven't a clue about what to wear," says Jonathan Light, a manager of design and production at Kikomo, a manufacturer licensed to produce tops for Wrangler's Timber Creek and Wrangler Hero labels.

As might be expected, mass merchants view this consumer conundrum as a retail opportunity. "The casual trend is playing right into our strength in casual sportswear," says John Lupo, the former senior vice president and general merchandise manager of Wal-Mart who was recently promoted to chief operating officer of the company's international division. He and other discounters say the casual trend is greatly affecting sales in menswear, where dollar sales of knit tops were up 14.8 percent through the 12 months ended July 31, compared to the same period last year, according to The NPD Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, N.Y. Casual slacks advanced 9.5 percent and woven sport shirts rose 8.6 percent for the period.

The casualwear trend is presenting the mass market with a big window of opportunity for a new source of revenue. But retailers realize that growth may require some new products and merchandising strategies.

At Wal-Mart, for instance, a casual-trend windfall won't come without an enhanced menswear department, admits Lupo, promising that his company's response to the demand for "dress casual" options "will be explosive."

To this end, Wal-Mart has introduced Farah men's trousers--until now found only in higher-end stores--in 25 percent of its locations this fall in anticipation of a full rollout next spring. If the test goes well, eventually selections will include poly-wool and poly-rayon blends in addition to sport coats and sport shirts. "Our goal in life is to serve our customers with today's fashions and today's needs, not yesterday's fashions and yesterday's needs," Lupo says, adding that Wal-Mart has also increased its selection of cotton knit shirts.

"People have to determine what casualwear in the office will be, but we figure that will be something other than denim," says Jerry Griffin, vice president of Farah, adding that other mass merchants may follow Wal-Mart in offering the Farah label.

Traditionally not known for much more than jeans in menswear, discounters must show department store apparel shoppers that it's okay to look in mass merchants for something to wear to the office. At the same time, they must continue marketing to the traditional discount store shopper, who may have little interest in pleated casual pants. One answer is to expand dress/casual displays without cutting into denim, which is still the mainstay of many discount shoppers.

"In casual bottoms, it takes three or four colors to generate the same business as in denim, so young have to devote a lot of space to it and you have to romance it more," says Jim Phillips, vice president of sales and distribution for Brittania, the mass merchant division of Levi Strauss. Part of the "romancing" already comes from displays of bottoms positioned near coordinated tops.

At a Caldor store in Oceanside, N.Y., for example, broad selections of Brittania and Timber Creek pleated bottoms (most priced about $19.97) are offered in several shades, including tan, brown, gray and blue. Each brand is displayed on two multitiered tables in textures that include twills, canvas and brushed canvas. Other pants displays include private label Harbour Classics corduroys at $21.99, belted Trilogy poly-cotton blends at $17.99 and Manhattan wrinkle-free poly-rayon blends at $21.99.

On nearby racks are several varieties of complementary tops, including fancy cotton wovens, with full or band collars, priced at $18.99. There are also Shetland wool sweater vests, marked at $16.99, presented on cotton sport shirts.

Hills is building on its private label Resolute Bay line of men's casual tops and bottoms to form a three-tiered "business casual" department ranging from twill pants to blazers to cotton dress shirts. In addition to its entry-level cotton twills and canvas bottoms and "soft bright" colors in tops, Hills will launch by spring a second tier of casuals, including more structured slacks, golf shirts and printed polos. Also out next spring will be its cotton dress shirts (retail priced $15 to $17) in solid colors, whites and blues, and poly-cotton blend pants and blazers (about $40 retail). "It's a major endeavor on our part," says Weikert, nothing that Hills intends to display its casual menswear on multiple fixtures.