Wal-mart has made a complete turn around with respect to the fashions
on the floor. Several new initiatives including the New York based
style directives office, organic produce and apparel, marketing hype
in the form of runway shows and several revamped lines have all
helped to change the overall appearance of Wal-mart floors across the
country. Will all of the changes ring big at the register? We'll know
in a few months time.
For starters, several of the established lines have been revamped and
are looking sharper and more fashion forward. Faded Glory (always
respectably styled and a great value) have amped up the style factor
and are offering more cutting edge details and silos in all of the
size ranges and ages. Metro 7 in ladies is still trying to define
it's market while George and the new George ME are taking off with
great silos and some impressive workmanship for the price. NoBo, or
New Boundaries, has really turned up the heat with great styling for
juniors, especially in the bottoms area. The only complaint we had
was that despite the sizes saying they go up to 20, the cuts were so
small and so different from style to style that we can't imagine any
true size 20 consumers finding anything to fit them and we can
imaging a wave of returns based on confusing sizing and inconsistent
fits. In young mens and boys we found that the floor was not as
impressive as the female side of the store but there was a
substantial improvement in the mix that was offered. We saw tons of
detailed cargo pants, an effort to upgrade the denim and some fun
athletic looks. In the smallest sizes, we saw the newly launched
Organics program by George. The apparel looked cute but our only
internal conflict comes from the fact that in order for something to
be labeled 100% organic, it only needs to contain 6% organic fiber.
This is an organic labeling law and not something that Wal-mart
invented. We will never really know if Wal-mart's George goods are
truly organic or if they are just optimizing the organic verbiage as
a marketing statement based on a legal loop-hole. We also found some
great sporty looks in infants and toddlers by Athletic works; again
showing how Wal-mart is standing behind their brands and simply
tweaking the looks to keep up with the market and their rivals at
Target.
On a personal note, it was the first time that this Snooper really felt something akin to a 'fashion fever' while walking a Wal-mart store. I actually 'wanted' and even purchased some of the junior pieces I found!!! I was even disappointed when a certain pair of skinny jeans and some distressed canvas slip on shoes were not available in my size! And while I am enjoying my purchases, I still don't feel as cool saying I bought something at Wal-mart ( I won't even admit it!) as I do when I say I found a cute item at Target. The cool factor has made it's way into the clothes and onto the racks, but what will it take for Wal-mart to be cool in our minds? And in going upscale with their fashions, will they alienate their core customer who is still looking for tees for under 5$? We will have to wait and see.
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