Carol Spieckerman

Wal-Mart's Apparel Project

June 7, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Described by Women's Wear Daily as its "perennial Achilles heel," Wal-Mart once more changed direction in its struggling apparel business. Why do you think Wal-Mart has struggled in its apparel business? How important is it for Wal-Mart to make fashion apparel work in its stores?      [more...]

Walmart is stuck in a neither fish nor fowl situation in apparel. On one side, you have Macy's and J.C. Penney maniacally going after private and proprietary brands. On the other side sit fast, nimble, and vertical H&M, Zara, Uniqlo (Walmart is lucky that Uniqlo hasn't gotten serious about peppering its stores from sea to shining sea) and Mango (yikes, coming to a J.C. Penney as a shop-in-shop any month now). Plopped in the middle is still-vulnerable Target with its fun capsule collections and "the rest" (a terribly unexciting mishmash of private and proprietary brands).

Walmart lacks a singular vision and would do well to bring in the apparel equivalent of Carmen Bauza. Not satisfied with Walmart beauty as an accidental cash cow run by brands, Ms. Bauza has completely restructured Walmart's existing brands into a cohesive and pared-down story while selectively pursuing up-market brand opportunities (Hard Candy). You'll know which stores reflect her handy work the minute you walk into the beauty area. A complete transformation.

Personally, I think that Walmart should have given its fashion foray a bit more time to take rather than going from ditch to ditch then trying to end up somewhere in the muddy middle. To say that the Walmart customer doesn't get fashion or appreciate it is reverse snobbery of the worst order. If basics is where Walmart wants to win, then make it fun, easy to shop, and conducive to multiple sales (Kamali's item-driven collection is the opposite of this). How long is Uniqlo giving Walmart again?