Irresistibly resistant - wrinkle-resistant clothing - Apparel Merchandising

Discount Store News, Feb 21, 1994 by Salvatore Baino

Wrinkle-resistant apparel is smoothing the way toward better men's wear sales in discount department stores as it expands briskly into a mass market full of consumers who shun both the chore of ironing and the cost of laundry services.

"We think wrinkle-resistant is an important issue, one of the best items we have," says Kmart's Robert Moore.

Performance cotton pants exceeded planned sales after Kmart rolled them out chain-wide last October, he adds, noting they're expected to continue to be one of the best-performing categories in men's wear. Kmart's total 1993 men's wear sales rose "in the single digits over 1992," says Moore.

Some varieties of wrinkle-resistant woven shirts, meanwhile, could be in discount department stores as early as fall '94, according to retailers who have begun to look at samples. "We think its time has come," says Moore, adding that Kmart will have wrinkle-resistant cotton twill and Oxford shirts as early as Aug. 1, or Oct. 1 at the latest.

If manufacturers can prove that wrinkle-resistant shirts have overcome traditional problems--the oven baking process has in the past lBd to weakened seams that fray--Kmart will probably introduce Manhattan wrinkle-resistant cotton Oxfords and private label twills in about 250 stores.

But the jury's still out on whether easy-care cotton shirts can be priced right for the mass market. "We may try some wrinkle-resistant shirtings, but they'll have to be at the right price," says Jon Devorkin, divisional merchandise manager, men's wear, Bradlees, noting that Bradlees would most likely go with twills priced close to its better sport shirts at $16-$17.

Kmart already sells Manhattan 55-45 cotton-polyester dress shirts for about $14 to $15 in 1,600 of its stores, and a successful performance cotton product could not be priced much higher. "Certainly, they would have to be under $20," Moore says.

Frank Scuderi, president of Manhattan Apparel, says he expects to introduce for holiday '94 wrinkle-resistant twill and Oxford sport shirts with retail price points ranging from $20 to $24. These may include polyester/cotton blends as well as all-cotton shirts, the latter commanding the highest price point. He adds that Manhattan has no current plans to introduce cotton dress shirts to the mass market, choosing instead to offer at under $20 retail 55/45 cotton/polyester blends treated with new wrinkle-resistant processes.

Mass market retailers and manufacturers are hoping wrinkle-resistant shirts will pick up on the momentum started by easy-care cotton pants.

"If press-free makes sense for the department store customer, then it's sure going to make sense for the discount store customer," says Robert Luehrs, president of Henry I. Siegel Co., whose H.I.S. wrinkle-resistant pants are being sold in Venture and other discount department stores. While upscale shoppers can probably afford laundry service, he adds, "the discount store customer irons every day."

Although men's wear sales were boosted in many cases last year by heavy promotions, some retailers say they earned respectable margins with wrinkle-resistant pants due to consumer demand and good wholesale prices. "The margins aren't keystone, but they're okay," says Horace Marshburn, divisional merchandise manager of men's wear at Rose's Stores, which is introducing Slaks Fifth Avenue's Cotton Magic brand wrinkle-resistant pants for spring priced at about $20.

"The margins are decent," concurs Moore, noting Kmart retails them for under its Steeple Chase private label for $19.99. The category fetches as much as $24.99 in the mass market.

At Stuarts, easy-care pants offer a new opportunity to sell a popular item for more than $20--a threshold it has in the past been hard-pressed to successfully vault in men's wear, says merchandise manager Matt Sudhalter, noting that Stuarts relied heavily on promotions to increase its '93 pants sales 8-10 percent over '92.

Wrinkle-resistant pants also serve as strong private label vehicles, which some retailers are using to complement upper-price-niche sportswear.

Bradlees merchandises wrinkle-resistant pants under its better private label, Prides Landing, in conjunction with better cotton sport shirts, knits and even cotton socks.

But private label isn't the only game in the wrinkle-resistant business. Bradlees, for example, is testing Loafers by Reed St. James, and most of the other mass market trousers brands also have wrinkle-resistant product in the market.

The challenge for all retailers, says Milton Hickman, senior vice president and general manager of Reed St. James, a division of Haggar, is "better execution at the store level. We're trying to sell products that can sell higher at retail, and we have to help consumers understand the value."

Rose's and others agree. "We will make more room for wrinkle-resistant, even though some other [bottoms] program will have to go by the wayside," says Marshburn, adding that Cotton Magic pants will be displayed on a 4-by-5-foot table.

Bradlees is displaying wrinkle-resistant pants on a tiered table under a lifestyle photograph depicting men in coordinated bottoms and tops, and Kmart may cross merchandise wrinkle-resistant pants with Oxford shirts.