Tackling fickle juniors - 16-24 year old women's clothing - AM Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Dec 7, 1992 by Jill Lettich

"Style conscious, economy minded, careful and impulsive," are how teenagers view themselves and their attitudes toward shopping. These are the same very conflicting characteristics that are challenging retailers and manufacturers now targeting juniors.

Despite this message from surveys like the Simmons Teen Age Research Study now flooding the market, retailers and manufacturers still see teens as representing a new, if not challenging, merchandising opportunity.

If there has been some resistance to this category in the mass market, it is because the bottom line figures have been fluctuating for the last few years.

According to MRCA Research, Stamford, Conn., which uses consumer panels to track purchasing behavior, women between the ages of 16 and 24 spent $3.3 billion on apparel and accessories for the first half of 1992, down from the $3.6 billion they spent for the same period last year. Full year expenditures for 1991 were $8.6 billion, while 1990 sales for the group were $9.3 billion.

Decreases in apparel sales to these shoppers--who demographically more or less conform to how retailers define juniors--may be due to smaller population within these age parameters. However, the good news is that these figures should improve with the national economy, especially since in the lower end of the age group disposable income is closely tied to the availability of dollars from their parents.

Mass merchandisers that want a piece of that pie are now looking to revamp the junior items they offer after years of emphasizing the demographic polar opposites: babies and aging baby boomers.

Few mass market retailers specifically segment juniors separately on the selling floor. Bradlees and Sears, which in many ways more closely resemble a department store rather than a discounter, are among the select groups that do have designated floor space for juniors. In other chains, the casual sportswear and jeans areas are where the merchandise mix is most likely to target a junior customer.

Without a doubt that mix includes a huge selection of denim.

According to 'Teen Magazine survey, teenage girls own 6.6 pairs of jeans. But it doesn't end there. In that same survey, 92 percent of teens questioned said they owned denim shorts; 80.7 percent own denim skirts; 56.3 percent own denim jackets and another half own denim accessories.

Karen Sheehan, divisional merchandise manager, juniors and ready-to-wear, Bradlees, agrees that denim is the backbone of most junior programs.

"Denim is the driving force, while before, rayon separates were more a part of the market," she notes. "There are only two bottoms selling in juniors--jeans and lycra leggings. And all tops are designed to go with either of those two bottoms."

According to Rick Pellino, vice president and general merchandise manager at Kmart, "The best vehicle for attacking junior customers is in denim shops." Though the chain does not separate a juniors department, its denim area includes both misses and junior sizes and styles that cater to both.

The same thing is happening at Target Stores. The current best sellers to the junior customer, in addition to denim include "hooded everything (fleece, knits tops); vests and oversized white shirts," according to a spokeswoman for the chain. In bottoms, colored denim is the current favorite at Target.

Though she notes that "juniors is a growing area" for Target, the chain does not have a specific junior department and mixes these items into the women's apparel sections.

While denim itself may be considered a basic, the juniors market is the first to benefit from any new denim designs, including new colorations. In fact, several manufacturers have targeted the mass market as an outlet for potential fashion growth.

The best selling item for spring at Gelatti, Cherokee's new mass market line for juniors, is a pair of brightly colored denim shorts. Printed rayon woven tops are doing well as a coordinating piece.

At No Excuses, a firm that repositioned its collections toward discounters, the basic five-pocket jean is updated by adding color: hot pink, purple and yellow make up the some of the spring offerings from the company.

Jeff Ashkenes, Gitano's new vice president, merchandising, women's wear, agrees that denim remains the thrust of its junior offerings. Although for fall 1992, there is a larger selection of casual sportswear planned than Gitano has had in the past, jeans are still the base of its junior line.

Because of the importance of jeans, retailers that carry branded denim are attracting juniors even without a special marketing effort in that segment.

Some regional retailers, like Prange Way, De Perre, Wis., have made a conscious decision to pay more attention to its larger core group of customers--older consumers.

Others still, like Venture, O'Fallon, Mo., include junior merchandise under one women's wear umbrella. According to Maxine Clark, vice president, Venture does not separate junior apparel in its stores.