Target’s corporate strategy for 2006 was cleverly
named ‘Growing by Design’ and the initiative included several new
brand and concept launches in the store. In junior/ contemporary
apparel we saw the addition of the ‘Go International’ concept where
limited edition fashions by European designers are featured in 3-
month cycles. This brief commitment is a great idea because it makes
the items featured have a finite timetable and a definite cachet. If
you snooze, you loose out on having a Paul and Joe item for under
$40! This concept is not new to retail; H&M has enjoyed incredible
success with abbreviated collections by Stella McCartney, Karl
Lagerfeld, Madonna and Viktor and Rolf (in the near future).
In young men’s we saw the addition of Keanan Dufty’s tee shirts,
shirts and jeans, but without any of the advertisement push and
fanfare of the Go International initiative in juniors. The items are
edgy and feature signature tee shirts with groovy art on deck. Have
mainstream men ever heard of Dufty? Probably not, but then who cares!
If you know Dufty, you’ll run to Target to get some of his merch. If
you haven’t ever heard of him, you might just really like his tees
and take one home anyway. Target is not pushing the ‘designer’ thing
in men’s in favor of letting men be comfortable in the department and
by slipping in some fashion forward items and lines here and there.
In girls we found ‘Yes’ clothing. Anyone who has been in the business
for 20 years remembers this iconic 80’s brand and its sexy junior
ottoman knit dresses and separates! In girl’s the line is edgy and
junior derived but not in an overt or inappropriate way nor does it
even remotely reference the original line or label. It is just the
name back in the fashion swing this time for girls only. In boys we
saw that C9 is taking on more real estate but there were no new names
or programs in place.
.For mini boys and girls we saw a new line-up of Disney goods under
the Ink and Paint name. Ink and Paint was the name of the original
art department at Disney under the close watch of Ub Iwerks. This
studio alone was responsible for all of the Disney classic films from
1920 -1986. Later The Ink and Paint Club came to be the name of a
series of shows on the Disney Channel which featured Disney Animated
shorts with an emphasis on Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. It
seems like the name has been resuscitated once again to push a
vintage Mouse look back into retail. Classic art, vintage silos and
distressed finishes are on deck for this latest mass Disney venture.
In August, Target Corp enjoyed a 9.2% increase in sales over last
year’s figures which leads us to believe that these new lines and
looks are largely responsible for the uptick in sales. We will
continue to monitor who Target brings on board next for their Go
International fare and to see if more lines pop up in men’s and boys.
Take a closer look at the store floor!
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