Bill Hanifin

A Uniform Approach to B-T-S Fashion

July 30, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
There are a lot of reasons given for schools requiring students to wear uniforms, but regardless of those reasons, it is clear that business is on the upswing and retailers are looking to grab their share. Is the greater adoption of school uniforms a positive or negative trend for retailer apparel sales overall?      [more...]

To my knowledge and experience, school uniform providers are dominated by locally established and owned companies. Schools normally contract with these providers and do not accept clothing "resembling" uniforms purchased from other sources.

For certain retailers, opening up an online store or having seasonal kiosks in-store for uniform sales could be well justified. Young students become accustomed to uniform wearing but surely wouldn't mind the "upgrade" to a Gap, Lands' End, or other brand.

For larger retailers, this is an opportunity with potential and it should be studied. I have some reticence in making this statement as this could result in another case of category killing merchants negatively impacting local merchants.