Men's apparel

Discount Store News, Oct 20, 1997

Wrangler is the sole mass market apparel brand that qualifies as a near Power Brand. It is a best performing brand in the opinion of more than one-half of the retailers polled-making it far and away the strongest brand in men's apparel. But its share among consumers is less than 10%.

Ironically, the only thing that is keeping Wrangler from Power Brand status is the overwhelming brand awareness of Levi's, which of course is not even on the shelves in discount stores.

In men's apparel at the discount level, only Hanes and Fruit of the Loom, with their pervasive strength in T-shirts, underwear, socks and fleece, have the muscle to challenge Levi's in shoppers' minds.

Wrangler has grown, and continues to grow, in tandem with discount chains' rising status as destinations for basic apparel goods, with denim departments as a centerpiece. Wrangler's strength is likely to expand as parent VF Corp. gets increasingly serious about its commitment to greater brand development across its family of labels.

There are few other meaningful menswear brands in the mass channel beyond the broad-shouldered trio of Hanes Fruit of the Loom and Wrangler but Dickies has advanced to a 5% share among consumers, its highest-ever ranking, due to America's three-year fashion emphasis on workwear and rugged styles and to Dickies' investment in brand marketing to that lifestyle demand.

Overall, men's apparel is the most brand-driven of the soft lines categories for consumers. Three-quarters of those polled had a brand preference in mind when shopping for men's apparel in discount department stores. About one-half of discount store shoppers were generally willing to buy a private label men's apparel selection, compared to 61% for women's apparel and 71% for children's apparel.

For their part, mass market retailers think of men's apparel as a commodity business, where the only fashion is basics, and staying in stock is the paramount issue. The brands they cite as best performing reveal this priority: Replenishment pros Wrangler, Rustler, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and Dickies are the only national brands in the discount channel with double-digit mentions.

With well-developed stock-and-fill systems already up and running, Wrangler and Dickies are certainly working to extend their shares by layering in fashion. Both are benefiting by the consumer demand for carpenter jeans and wide-leg silhouettes. They also keep in retailers' good graces by their leadership in store fixtures and signage, and commitment to brand advertising.

The product itself is also vital to Wrangler and Dickies. Both have poured resources into better developing their brands by adding more than denim to the mix. Wrangler woven tops and Dickies work gloves and footwear are prime examples.

Brittania, the Levi's spin-off recently acquired by Wrangler/Rustler/Riders parent VF Corp., has a high single-digit share among retailers and could have a brighter future ahead as VF considers how to improve its nascent identity as a younger men's choice in denim. Riders, which fared only moderately well as a discount store replacement for Lee, might in the future play a parallel role as a juniors-skewed brand.

TimberCreek, the Dockers-inspired sub-brand of Wrangler, has earned a respectable niche in the stores, although its best-performing brand share among retailers remains below 5%. As shoppers see an increased presence in the discount aisles of casual slacks and khaki-friendly updated traditional tops merchandised as "lifestyle" alternatives to jeans and denim-friendly shirts, TimberCreek is positioned by both distribution and product styling to gain in stature.

Private label denim lifestyle brands have gained considerable devotion among mass merchandisers following in the footsteps of the successful Arizona Jeans Co. program at JCPenney.

The Big Three private labels (Target's Honors, Greatland and Merona labels; Kmart's Route 66; and Wal-Mart's Faded Glory) enable these retailers to offer a somewhat different product mix and try their hands at internal brand management. Target is the favorite to benefit long-term from the strategy. It has the most product development and coordinated soft lines merchandising experience, and owns its labels outright, while the Big K and Big W programs are direct-to-retailer licenses.

As these store brands evolve, along with similar programs at regional chains, the national brands will continue to press their advantages. The major denim manufacturers who in some cases had held out as all-American producers, are now accelerating their shift to production outside the United States. By keeping retailers happy with margin opportunities in national branded goods, they hope to blunt one of the key motivations for retailers to pursue directly sourced private label programs.

Among consumers, various age divisions affect the brands.

The highest hurdle for Wrangler was Baby Busters, who favor Levi's by a 4-to-1 margin over Wrangler. Baby Boomers choose Levi's by about 2-to-1 over Wrangler. But VF, which dominates mass market denim, is unlikely to worry about this mind-share challenge. It can play Brittania as a long-term market share gainer for male Busters, while it continues to develop the lion's share of the jeans business across the discount channel.