(wwd)Target Takes Manhattan

: Isabel and Rueben Toledo Towel for Target

Target expects its first Manhattan store at East River Plaza, which opens Sunday to conservatively do $60 million to $70 million in annual sales, but is hoping for a volume of $100 million to $115 million, according to sources. The 110,000-square-foot store marks a big step for the $63.5 billion Target after years of searching for a site in New York City. “East River Plaza provides for single-level layouts for the retailers,” said Peter Ripka, a partner in Ripco Real Estate and the project’s leasing agent. “It’s more akin to [Target’s] suburban operations and very familiar to their customers.” It may be difficult for Target to find single floor space in Manhattan for its next store. “[Target] has turned the spigot on again and is now actively looking in Manhattan,” said a source close to the company. “They’re considering some things along the West Side. It may depend on how the [Harlem] store comes out of the box. Target’s Atlantic Terminal store in Brooklyn was a huge success and is consistently one of the top-performing stores in the chain. A lot of customers are going there from lower Manhattan. You can bet Target is going to study where the Harlem store’s shoppers are coming from.” Target already knows that many of its future customers live in the neighborhood. The store appeals to those multiethnic residents with signage in English and Spanish and graphics featuring African-American, Hispanic and white models. “The East Harlem Target is unique to the area due to its urban setting,” said Trish Adams, senior vice president of Target. “The merchandise has been tailored based on shopping patterns and the demographics of the neighborhood. We’ll offer an edited assortment overall, with more space devoted to commodities, basics for the home and items for apartment dwellers such as storage solutions and air beds.” Target’s latest salvo in the price wars, announced Wednesday, is Back in Black Friday. The online event Friday is a play on promotions that usually occur on the day after Thanksgiving. For women, offers will include Zebra rain boots, $15, a 40 percent savings; Mossimo maxidresses, $21.99, buy one, get one free, and a Soap and Glory set for $7.99, a 47 percent savings. read more

(wwd)Luxe Spending Rises, but Apparel Lags

Luxury spending is on the rise, but apparel isn’t feeling the love. The country’s richest consumers will drive luxury spending up between 6 and 8 percent this year, according to a survey of affluent Americans conducted by American Express Publishing Corp. and Harrison Group, but apparel is unlikely to benefit. Apparel spending by these consumers has recovered somewhat, but continues to slide, falling 5 percent in the first quarter and 4 percent in the second quarter. By comparison, apparel spending by this group slid 8 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008 and 9 percent in the first quarter of last year. Overall spending by the most affluent 10 percent of the U.S. population is expected to surge $56 billion this year versus 2009, and half that amount is expected to go toward the purchase of luxury products. Harrison Group vice chairman Jim Taylor told WWD at a Luxury Marketing Council presentation in New York Wednesday that apparel spending is generally discretionary and not a necessity. “It has become an event-driven business,” he said. “Still, I think it will be a pretty good Christmas.” The survey polled 1,910 respondents from households with incomes representing the top 10 percent of the American population. These consumers collectively account for 50 percent of all retail sales and 70 percent of all retail margins. This group also holds about 80 percent of all non-retirement account assets. read more

(wsj)Fashion Sites Try to Lure Guys

: GiltMan.com

Online fashion shopping sites like Gilt Groupe and Rue La La have been a hit with women since launching over the last three years. A new push to get men to shop in these web boutiques is proving more difficult. As they struggle to figure out ways to reel in male shoppers, the sites are throwing all sorts of things at the wall to see what sticks, including offering sporting gear and gadgets (a high-end ax, anyone?) and making virtual men-only shopping areas so guys won't have to scroll through women's fashions. Gilt Groupe, a two-year-old site that holds limited-time only "flash" discount sales of designer merchandise, added sports gear such as golf clubs and surfboards last fall when it introduced a separate site for guys. Ideeli, a three-year-old flash-sales site, plans to add a men's section with clothing plus sporting goods, gadgets and packaged travel outings aimed at men. Meanwhile, high-end fashion retailer Net-A-Porter announced in June that it would launch Mr. Porter, a dedicated men's-only site, next January. Rue La La, which launched in 2008, plans to "quadruple" the amount of men's brands it carries this year, says CEO Ben Fischman. Though these sites are familiar to many women, they are hardly household names among men. Women make up 75% of Gilt's 2.5 million members, and the numbers are similar for its rivals: women represent 90% of HauteLook's 2.7 million members and 70% of the 1.8 million members at Rue La La. When BIGresearch asked a little more than 8,000 men to write down which sites they shopped for clothes most often, among the top 10 were Amazon, Wal-Mart, eBay, Macy's and Lands' End. Gilt, HauteLook, and Rue La La weren't mentioned. And in general, men's online spending trails women's—$4.3 billion compared with $9.6 billion during the 12-month period that ended in April, according to market researcher NPD Group.

So why bother with guy shoppers? Because when it comes to the upper income consumers that these sites target, men may buy less than women, but they spend more. Affluent men, those with income levels in the top 20% of U.S. households, spent an average of $3,970 on Internet purchases during the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with $1,958 for women, according to Unity Marketing. read more

(guardian)Are the Guccis fashion's most quarrelsome family?

This week's amusing fashion news story brings bad tidings for Elisabetta Gucci, who is being sued by the Gucci Group for, essentially, being called Gucci. She is the great-grandaughter of Gucci founder Guccio Gucci, so it's not like she isn't one of those Guccis, plus she worked for the Gucci Group until 1995, but now she has had the temerity to plan a group of hotels which will be called Elisabetta Gucci Hotels. Shall we rearrange the words "freaks" and "control"? Has anyone ever used the word Gucci so many times in one paragraph before? Questions, questions. The Gucci Group told WWD "Gucci wants to make clear that it has no relationship to Elisabetta Gucci Hotels and that it is not involved in any project whatsoever with Elisabetta Gucci Hotels." FS is beginning to feel rather sorry for her now. Her managing director (of the hotels, we assume, not her personally) retorted that "Elisabetta Gucci is doing her job. She cannot cancel her name or her background. If she has a famous name or a famous background, that's not her fault and we are not trying to use it as much." FS finds itself rather intrigued by that last word. Simple misquote? Or Freudian slip? As much as what - or should we ask, whom? Elisabetta should probably consider herself lucky to be facing a mere lawsuit, for the Gucci family have a notorious history of feuds, fights and somewhat darker affairs. Paolo Gucci was once the chief designer at the company, and the man who created the famous double 'G' logo. But he kept up a long-running trademark battle with the company after they fired him over his management practices. His father Aldo tried to stop him, so Paolo shopped him for tax evasion, which led to a prison sentence. Oh, and Paolo was imprisoned himself for failling to pay child support. Later, one of Paolo's daughters and his ex-wife were also taken to court and banned from using the family name on the grounds that doing so "infringed and diluted" the Gucci trademark. All this, however, is positively friendly by Gucci standards. Back in 1998 Patrizia Reggiani was jailed for 26 years for arranging the murder of her estranged husband, Maurizio Gucci. When investigating the crime, Italian police found her diary, in which she had written ''There is no crime that money cannot buy" - and, on the day he was shot, the single word entry read "paradise". That, FS friends, is what's known as a bit of a clue. Ridley Scott is now rumoured to be making a film of this delightful episode. Who can he have in mind for the role of Patrizia, a woman who once claimed "I would rather weep in a Rolls-Royce than be happy on a bicycle?" And surely Tom Ford - once Gucci creative director and now feted film maker - would be the perfect director? read more

(wsj)Forever 21 Pursues Big-Store Branding

"Forever 21 Inc. is set to open a massive new store in New York's Times Square on Friday, the latest and most aggressive step in the low-priced fashion retailer's plan to expand from a clothing boutique into a department store. The privately held, Los Angeles-based company is expanding aggressively at a time when most retailers are holding back or downsizing, a move enabled in large part by the recession. Forever 21 snapped up real estate vacated by brands such as the now-bankrupt Mervyns LLC chain that were forced to downsize or close because of dwindling sales. Teens continue to swarm Forever 21's piles of inexpensive, high-fashion-imitating party dresses and tank tops. But moving into cavernous spaces, like the 90,000-square-foot spot near 46th and Broadway, is forcing the chain into new categories like menswear, children's clothing and beauty, where its hold on consumers is less certain." read more

(wwd)H&M Profits Up 24 Percent in Second Quarter

"Hennes & Mauritz AB, the world’s third-largest fashion retailer, said net profits rose 24 percent in the second quarter, but sales of its spring garments were disappointing due to unusually cold weather in most of its markets. Net profits in the three months ended May 31 amounted to 5.21 billion kronor, or $710 million, on sales of 31.6 billion kronor, or $4.3 billion. Same-store sales were down by 1 percent in the quarter. Dollar figures are converted at average exchange rates for the period. Like-for-like sales fell 4 percent in May compared with the same month last year, with the retailer reporting that unspecified calendar effects had a negative impact of 3 to 4 percentage units in the month. Including new stores, sales grew 6 percent in May and 22 percent during the period of June 1-22, it added. The Swedish high-street giant said weaker-than-expected spring sales had left it with 2 percent more stock than last year. “This could lead to a higher price reduction level in the third quarter compared to the corresponding quarter last year,” it said. Gross margin — a key measure of profitability — rose to 65.9 percent in the second quarter from 61 percent a year earlier, boosted by a weaker dollar during the purchasing period for garments sold in the quarter. “Other factors, such as greater surplus capacity at suppliers, lower transportation costs, favorable raw material prices and efficiencies in the buying process also impacted the gross margin positively in the second quarter 2010,” it said. H&M announced it would enter Croatia and Romania in 2011 with store openings in Zagreb and Bucharest in the spring. Also next year, Morocco will become a new franchise market with a store opening in Casablanca in the fall. The company said it had postponed the planned opening of a COS store in Hong Kong from fall 2010 to sometime next year."

(wwd)U.S. Retailers Push in China

"China is beckoning mainstream U.S. retailers as never before. With the country’s middle class growing fast — projected by Euromonitor to total 700 million people in 2020 — companies such as Gap Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Bebe Stores Inc. are making their first forays into China. Others, including Guess Inc., Iconix Brand Group Inc. and Levi Strauss & Co., are enlarging their footprints. The activity comes as China has decided to let its currency appreciate gradually against a basket of currencies, including the dollar, which could — along with rising wages for Chinese workers — boost the purchasing power of its consumers and make the world’s most populous nation an even more enticing market. The push by retail and apparel firms in China, preceded by the expansion of luxury brands, has accelerated as they seek to diversify geographically because the international economic crisis exposed the vulnerability of developed markets while China’s economy grew 8.7 percent last year."

(Independent)Madonna's Fashion Line to Hit Macy's in August

"Macy's has released the first images of popstar Madonna and her daughter Lourdes's first fashion range for the US department store, called Material Girl - due out for back-to-school season in August. Judging from the sketches, there will mainly be 1980s-inspired clothes (complete with a range of fingerless gloves), including flowery bustier dresses, star prints, and 'jeggings.' According to the press release, the new line relies on mixing unexpected items, "like a tutu dress and studded-combat boots, or an oversized boyfriend sweatshirt with a floral print mini skirt." Even though the fashion world is starting to get fed up with celebrity fashion lines, this collection is highly anticipated not just because of Madonna's star power, but also because of her successful design debut for Swedsih retailer H&M a few years back. All items, expected to cost under $40, will hit Macy's stores and its website on August 3." read more

Fashion's Night Out--Officially--Coming to L.A.!

"Cynthia Ruiz, the president of the city’s Department of Public Works—and also known as the mayor’s fashion ambassador—confirmed that the mayor’s Office of Economics & Business Policy, under the jurisdiction of Deputy Mayor Austin Buetner, has started to plan Los Angeles’ participation in the night-long shopping extravaganza. The U.S. edition of Fashion’s Night Out was created last year through a partnership between Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America and N.Y.C. & Co. (New York City’s tourism site) as a global initiative to celebrate fashion and boost consumer confidence, shopping and the local economy. The F.N.O./L.A. committee will soon reveal how the city of Los Angeles is planning on translating this much-awaited night into sales, events and an opportunity for local designers to be showcased. “I love the idea of L.A.’s FNO having some of the elements that the Downtown L.A. Art Walk has been able to implement—a little something for everybody,” Commissioner Ruiz said. Last year during the inaugural launch of F.N.O. in New York, Los Angeles held a few in-store shopping events around town. Now, after the efforts of many, L.A. will officially join the lineup of Fashion’s Night Out cities, alongside New York and several other fashion capitals around the world."

The Style File Daily Cheat Sheet