Archived RIP Merona

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Here is the full WSJ article:
Target Rejiggers Brands to Lure Shoppers



Target is closing some stalwart brands and creating niche labels to draw shoppers seeking something special.




By

Elizabeth Holmes







To understand what today’s clothing shoppers want, take a look at the beer aisle.

Niche craft brands are stealing share from traditional beverage behemoths, as customers hunt for something that feels special. The same is true in beauty and grooming, where startups are getting all the buzz.

Target Corp. is taking note and cleaning house, shedding some of its stalwart brands and launching more than a dozen new ones over the next 18 months in apparel and home furnishings. To make room, the men’s and women’s Merona line and men’s Mossimo offering will be phased out, having grown too big and homogenized to garner shoppers’ affection, executives say.

Faced with slumping sales and stiff competition from rivals, including Amazon, Target hopes the new launches will give shoppers a reason to come into its stores.

Each new brand has a defined personality and purpose, Target says, and isn’t a nondescript label. “People are looking for something that is more curated and meaningful to their specific lifestyle,” says Mark Tritton, Target’s chief merchandising officer. The goal is for A New Day, a more fashionable line of women’s classics, and Goodfellow & Co, a modern menswear collection, to make an emotional connection with shoppers—something Merona never was able to do.





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Target’s coming A New Day line of women’s classics includes a short-sleeve blouse with a pleated skirt, black flats and a red handbag.Photo: Target







The new names, which will begin to appear this fall, are meant to complement the remaining brands, allowing each to have a clearer point of view, Target says. The athleisure-inspired JoyLab, for shoppers going from “crunches to brunches,” will be marketed as a fashion brand, while the existing C9 Champion line is positioned to emphasize performance. Project 62, a home brand with a modern aesthetic in the works, will be displayed alongside the more traditional Threshold brand.





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Among the offerings in Target’s Project 62 home brand are a blue velvet chair, a pillow, table and lamp.Photo: Target







In addition to the launches, Target is making changes that it says reflect how customers want to shop today. Rampant discounts and promotions, which Target says have diminished customers’ trust in retailers, will be kept to a minimum with the new brands. Thanks to better lighting and more mannequins, displays will resemble a boutique in a mall more than a big-box chain. New racks and shelves will allow for cross-merchandising, like displaying shoes alongside dresses.

Total Target sales fell 5.8% last year, to $69.5 billion. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 1.3% in the first quarter. The chain reported a “small decline” in apparel same-store sales in the first quarter.

The Minneapolis retailer is investing heavily in its new brand strategy, hoping to boost profits with fresh interest in these high-margin categories.

Half its apparel and accessories will be overhauled in the next two years, and more than a third of its home offerings. “Brands become a great differentiator,” says CEO Brian Cornell. Target wants to draw customers from struggling rivals, including department stores and specialty chains that are closing locations.

The brands coming this fall will take a page from the playbook of Cat & Jack, a collection of children’s apparel and accessories that Target introduced last summer to replace the clothing lines of Cherokee and Circo. The older labels were seeing same-store sales gains in the single digits, according to Mr. Tritton. “They weren’t underperforming, we just felt they had overstayed their welcome,” he says. Shoppers wanted clothes that were more stylish and durable.





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Target designed distinctive in-store looks for its Cat & Jack collection of children’s apparel and accessories.Photo: Target







Cat & Jack sales have surpassed Cherokee and Circo apparel sales combined, with same-store sales rising double digits and total sales set to top $1 billion in the first year. Even as it swells in size, Cat & Jack’s style focus remains the same, Target says, with bright colors, whimsical graphics and clever slogans. When customers wanted edgier, more fashion-forward styles for slightly older children, Target launched a brand called Art Class. It, too, is selling well, offering “validation of why we need multiple brands with unique aesthetics,” says Michelle Wlazlo, senior vice president of apparel and accessories.

With many customers browsing online before coming into the store, Target has done more with its in-store displays to help shoppers make the connection. Both Cat & Jack and Art Class have their own landing pages on Target’s website, with graphics and color schemes specific to the brands replicated in store displays. For Cat & Jack, a three-dimensional hot-air balloon calls shoppers’ attention to the store shelves.

To create niche adult brands for an audience as large as Target’s—30 million people walk through its doors every week—the company relied on insights consumers gave its market-research and design teams.

Real shoppers will appear in some of the new brands’ marketing materials alongside models. “Consumers are looking for brands they can relate to,” says Rick Gomez, Target’s chief marketing officer, and “seeing people like themselves” helps draw that connection.

Write to Elizabeth Holmes at elizabeth.holmes@wsj.com



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I'm optimistic about these changes.

There is no doubt that Cat & Jack is doing well, and while there is some small overlap with the old Cherokee and Circo brands, most of the clothing really is new. You can't just write it off as "same thing, different tag."

This is the right move to keep things fresh and capture shoppers moving on from other stores that have been closing down.
 
I'm feeling hopeful about these additions as well, seeing first-hand how Cat And Jack and Art Class performed compared to Circo and Cherokee. I actually have purchased clothing from girls for myself now because of the new styles.
 
I read that we will be selling stuff from h&m soon. I should have taken a picture of the guide with all the new brands
 
"Rampant discounts and promotions, which Target says have diminished customers’ trust in retailers, will be kept to a minimum with the new brands."

What? I'm more likely to buy something if it's discounted and/or part of a promotion (that makes it cheaper). I don't go to Target to get fashion...I go because it's (mostly) quality merchandise and it's relatively cheaper than most B&M places.

LOL
 
StockerAce said:
"Rampant discounts and promotions, which Target says have diminished customers’ trust in retailers, will be kept to a minimum with the new brands."

What? I'm more likely to buy something if it's discounted and/or part of a promotion (that makes it cheaper). I don't go to Target to get fashion...I go because it's (mostly) quality merchandise and it's relatively cheaper than most B&M places.

LOL
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't get that part. JC Penny tried that and it did not work out at all.
 
StockerAce said:
"Rampant discounts and promotions, which Target says have diminished customers’ trust in retailers, will be kept to a minimum with the new brands."

What? I'm more likely to buy something if it's discounted and/or part of a promotion (that makes it cheaper). I don't go to Target to get fashion...I go because it's (mostly) quality merchandise and it's relatively cheaper than most B&M places.

LOL
Click to expand...
I do think shaking up the line-up is a good thing. IMO the current Mens clothing selection has become staid, lackluster, and down right boring. A change is needed and I hope the choices they make will e good and exciting ones.

However, like SFSFun wrote, I think after a month or two we will see the current frequency of sales and discounts return. The only retailer "Every Day Low Prices" really works for is Walmart, and that is because they've been playing that note for over 50 years.

B&M retailers have conditioned the public to expect and want sales.
 
Right now I leave all the softlines signing for the VML. If he doesn't put it up, that's on him, not me. The only signing I would still do is any overheads but I don't anticipate anything like that for these "new" brands since they didn't do it for Cat & Jack.
 
They have to lose so much money with this stuff. For example, all the C9 socks with the old logo just went clearance. Then we get the exact same socks with the new logo and packaging, but with a different dpci. I feel the same thing will happen with the commodities in apparel, like the polish, cardigans, etc. It will all go clearance, just so the exact same item with a different tag can replace it.
 
SigningLady said:
Right now I leave all the softlines signing for the VML. If he doesn't put it up, that's on him, not me. The only signing I would still do is any overheads but I don't anticipate anything like that for these "new" brands since they didn't do it for Cat & Jack.
Click to expand...
My team does all their own signing and the signing TM only does overhead. It just make more sense for someone who is setting the product to do it vs someone wandering around trying to find the product.
 
squirrely said:
They have to lose so much money with this stuff. For example, all the C9 socks with the old logo just went clearance. Then we get the exact same socks with the new logo and packaging, but with a different dpci. I feel the same thing will happen with the commodities in apparel, like the polish, cardigans, etc. It will all go clearance, just so the exact same item with a different tag can replace it.
Click to expand...
They already have stuff go clearance and then bring it back under a different DPCI a few months later. Introducing it under a new brand will MAKE money since shoppers will see the new brand and assume it is a new product and want to try it out. It's just a marketing trick. Plus, I'm not convinced the new lines will be only made up of the exact same items. They successfully introduced new clothing with Cat & Jack, and so it makes sense to continue using that playbook.
 
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