2018 Top 100 Retailers Power Players : Mass Apparel

2018 Top 100 Retailers Power Players : Mass Apparel |

https://stores.org/2018/06/28/2018-top-100-retailers-power-players-mass-markets/

 

〈No. 1 TJX〉

 

 

The Amazon effect is being felt throughout the garment industry, but nowhere as much as in the mass market selling of apparel. Amazon hasn’t quite matched Walmart in the number of apparel shoppers, but it is tied in the runner-up position with Target, according to Coresight Research. “Further growth in Prime membership will, in the near term at least, be the foundation on which Amazon will build greater share in the apparel category,” says Deborah Weinswig, managing director of Coresight Research.

 

The intense competition in mass apparel has taken its toll on such retailers as J.C. Penney and Kohl’s. Kohl’s is downsizing stores and subletting space to grocery and convenience store operators. Such moves will allow Kohl’s “to achieve further inventory reductions and margin acceleration as a result,” company executives told investors and analysts this spring.

 

J.C. Penney is banking on the success of its Sephora beauty departments to lure shoppers into the rest of the store, particularly the revamped womenswear department.

 

“In the past, J.C. Penney has been over-assorted in traditional women’s clothing and under-assorted in casual and contemporary women’s clothing,” then-CEO Marvin Ellison said in an analyst call. “The first step in converting women’s apparel to a more casual environment was to increase our penetration in activewear.”

 

“We’re hopeful the new women’s apparel layout with improved adjacency to Sephora will help stabilize and improve department comps,” says Oliver Chen, retail analyst with Cowen & Co. “Sephora is a jewel for JCP, helping drive foot traffic into stores, and continues to generate impressive comps.”