Wal-Mart: This Fall’s Fashion Don’t
| posted by Fast Company staffWal-Mart has been trying to push its way into (relatively) high fashion for at least a year now. The store has invested in trend-spotting, offered lines from European designers and even made appearances at high profile events such as New York City's Fashion Week.
The buzz during Fashion Week was that Wal-Mart's "cheap chic" would be a hit -- that fashion is about the design, not the price. Target and H&M had pulled it off, so it made sense that Wal-Mart would now get a piece of the action. But in September, Wal-Mart reported a dismal 1.3 percent rise in sales, and the retail giant cited sluggish clothing sales as the reason.
So, just blame it on high fuel prices, a downward economy and low consumer spending, right?
Wrong. Not only did fuel prices drop in September, but according to an article in this morning's Wall Street Journal, the Lazard Retail Index for department stores rose 8.8 percent last month. A spokesperson for the firm called it the best month for department stores in a year and a half. Target posted a 6.7 percent increase in same-store sales in September.
The numbers don't lie -- they just leave people wondering, what's the matter with Wal-Mart?
The Wall Street Journal notes that the crowded feel of Wal-Mart stores and the limited numbers of dressing rooms are not conducive to clothes shopping.
Additionally, their fashion advertising has been inconsistent, at best. Without a convincing ad campaign, people may continue to associate Wal-Mart with discounted socks and giant tubs of cheese puffs more than they associate it with designer skirts and trendy tops.
Do you think Wal-Mart's enormous buying and marketing power will be able to overcome these obstacles? Or is fashion one industry where you can't just muscle your way in?
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Recent Comments | 7 Total
October 18, 2006 at 8:08am
Joan ZimmermanNot likely. It's like a K-Mart flashback.
October 18, 2006 at 9:38am
D. WhiteI think that Walmart has backed itself into a corner with there wanting to always be known for there low prices and cheap merchandise, and this has become a huge turn off to me, as I now shop more often in Target and department stores rather than going to Walmart. Walmart's total lack of an add campaign that says the store is anything but cheap also hurts it greatly as well.
October 18, 2006 at 3:53pm
ACIf you have seen the Wal-mart movie, "The High Cost of Low Prices" (not to mention the numerous articles decrying their business practices), hopefully you will never shop at a Wal-Mart again. Go ahead and pay the extra $0.05 for the Cheesy Poofs at Target. And unless you live in a trailer or hunt game for your own dinner, why would you buy clothes from this retailer?
October 29, 2006 at 9:06pm
DRWal-Mart's brand is low-cost for the lumpen. Haute coutour is a contradiction of the brand. That simple.
Brand contradictions could be fantasized indefinitely. How well might P. Diddy do with a Mozart album? McDonalds with faux gras? Bush with Camus? Stalin with democracy? Why not Pamela Anderson as Cordelia (in "Leer," perhaps)?
Call it stereotyping but in the real world things have solid identities, for better or worse. Wal-Mart is what it is, it cannot be the opposite of what it is. "Those who try to be all things to all men, end by being nothing to anyone."
May 31, 2007 at 12:50pm
AbbyI'm an average middle class shopper. When I think of the clothing department at Walmart, it reminds me of the old Woolworth dimestore clothing department. If there is any merchandise that would appeal to me, it is displayed so poorly that I don't care to look through the stacks or rack after rack of items that remind me more of being in a 2nd hand store. Eye appeal and a good advertising campaign might go a long way in turning around the downward spiral of public opinion.
May 31, 2007 at 2:36pm
Barbara SpellPersonally I can't stand Target. I wanted a small vase for flowers and at Target every vase they had was $25.00. I waited a couple of days and went back to Wal-Mart found the almost same vase for $5.00. AMAZING!
Unfortunately everyone isn't economically sound enough to shop wherever they want some of us have to look for bargains.
I never try anything on I buy.
May 31, 2007 at 9:04pm
BelleI too like target. I live with-in one half mile and 3 miles from 2 Wal-Marts, but I travel about 12 miles to shop at target Hope they would open a target closer to my area in fairfield Alabama Or Bessemer, Alabma
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