Rebuilding women's by slashing skus - Kmart Corp - Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Dec 9, 1996

As Maria Comfort begins reorganizing the women's department for Kmart, she knows that finding a focus won't be easy. With her broad and shallow assortments, establishing an essential core mix is a monumental editing task.

But this divisional vice president of ladies', who has worked for the likes of Bloomingdale's and Macy's, knows what she needs to do to make Kmart's women's department profitable.

As in virtually all Kmart categories, rationalization of skus is a top priority. "I think we have to rationalize but in order to increase the dollars per square foot, we have to make sure that each fixture counts and produces X amount of dollars," she says. "That's really the approach we've taken to the business."

Last spring, Comfort's areas were composed of an unwieldy 1,300 skus. this year, Kmart cut that number by 50 percent. "I think that's a way to start to create focus and to try to get to the goals that we have this year," she says.

But eliminating skus doesn't mean trimming sales expectations. Comfort's area is planned up by 6 percent for spring 1997.

To achieve this goal, Comfort, like Kmart's other divisional merchants will be focusing on powerful, classification-dominant national brands and newly tuned house labels-basic Editions for opening price point basics; Route 66, Kmart's answer to The Gap, Kathy Ireland. geared to appeal to young mothers; and Jaclyn Smith, the Kmart franchise that's meant to appeal to Baby Boomers with a taste for the classics.

Comfort sees almost every women's apparel classification as an opportunity to improve sales. Among her areas of attention will be plus sizes and juniors.

Comfort notes that 25 percent of womenswear sales, at all retailers, during the first quarter were from plus sizes, and 11 percent were from juniors. "We're not in one business at all [juniors] and in the other [plus sizes], I don't think we've done a very good job," she says.

Kmart has begun addressing the problems. At long last, Kmart is rolling out separate juniors presentations this spring at 200 test stores. Until now, says Stephen Ross, senior vice president, general merchandise manager of soft lines, Kmart wasn't in a position to make the juniors department a priority. "I think we've now defined the pieces, and now it's appropriate for us to take a look at the business as a viable one," he says.

Plus sizes will also be accentuated in the months to come.

Comfort sees Kmart's dress business as another opportunity to right a wrong. "Our dress business gives us a tremendous opportunity because, up to a year ago, we weren't even in all stores with them," she says Before Comfort joined, the retailer took a bad situation and made it worse when the decision was made to hold an extensive position in prom dresses for the spring season.

But Comfort is making the necessary adjustments. "I think the biggest success is really a la specialty stores, where they've taken almost a sportswear approach to dresses," she says.

Kmart has already seen success in areas where it has made the customer the number one priority. Comfort says she has seen research, for example, that shows Kmart has the largest market share of sweaters.

It's a very exciting fact for me because in terms of presentation, nothing different is happening in the way we approached the product other than we've given the customer value, and we've given her fashion," she says. "And she recognizes it, and we're seeing tremendous success in that business."

The department will also retain its strong focus on denim. In August, the retailer introduced Destination Denim - complete with signs and fixtures - in 1,100 of its stores. But jeans, while greatly improved as a category, can still use some work.

"We have to add dimension to the mix that gives it a reason for being so that it, s just not one amorphous denim department that only projects a core value and doesn't say anything, else," says Ross. "There's a lot of fashion that's going on in ready-to-wear jeans right now, and we're not capturing that and we're not projecting that." Translation: add wide-legs and fashion colors to the mix.

Kmart is, of course, also fine-tuning its key private labels. They will all be refined to reflect a core lifestyle approach. Even the stalwart Jaclyn Smith is due for a revamp. "We feel we have a tremendous opportunity in Jaclyn Smith. There's a great amount of brand awareness to Jaclyn, and we feel that positioning the product in a more updated manner will broaden its appeal," says Comfort.

As she prepares to take her department into the new year, Comfort sees plush fabrics, including synthetic knits, stretch fabrics as golden. In addition, "the pants category is a tremendous opportunity for us."