<p>Producers Turn Retailers</p>
<p>Do not Miss:Emmy tributes controversySewer clogs blamed on wipesNew jet coming to SFO?Where's Col. Mustard?Get A's championship gearWith department stores consolidating and merchants pushing their own privatelabel goods, a expanding number of bigname producers are turning into mainstream merchants opening flashy shops in some of the most costly buying districts in the globe.</p>
<p>Stylishly developed and staffed to the hilt,chanel replica bags, these shops are a much cry from the barebones factory outlet centers that producers have operate for some time.</p>
<p>Swimsuit maker Speedo, kid's clothing company OshKosh B'gosh and fashion home Ferragamo are just a few distributors that have recently established up store in midtown Manhattan, following the lead of designer , who operates a lavish store on Madison Avenue.</p>
<p>Closer to home, Connecticut shoemaker Nine West opened a boutique on Union Sq. in November. Nike is building a huge "Nike City" emporium a few doors absent, while Giorgio Armani is said to have recently signed a lease for area in the same vicinity.</p>
<p>San Franciscobased Levi Strauss Co., the world's biggest clothing manufacturer, is scouring the metropolis for a retail site. It will be one of 190 companyowned stores that Levi's ideas to open up in the United States in the subsequent 5 years. (Up to now, Levi's has only operated stores via a partnership with , a Massachusetts specialty chain.)</p>
<p>But the fastgrowing pattern is stirring controversy.</p>
<p>The manufacturers claim their shops are largely "picture builders," developed to showcase products and improve brand name consciousness. They refute ideas that they are in direct competitors with merchants, and say</p>
<p>they will not undercut their costs.</p>
<p>In reality, they say they are improving sales for everyone who peddles their products.</p>
<p>"Ours is not a volume strategy," states , president of Levi's Only Shops, the firm's retail division. "We want to showcase the brand and enhance our picture."</p>
<p>For the record, division stores are reluctant to criticize manufacturers, who are their breadandbutter suppliers.</p>
<p>, sales marketing director at</p>
<p>Department Shops WORRIEDBut, in accordance to some retail specialists, department stores are quite concerned about the pattern.</p>
<p>"Macy's will be very concerned about dropping revenue if Levi's opens a large extravagant shop close by," said , president of New York primarily based Barnard's . "And certainly that is what will happen. Macy's will lose marketplace share."</p>
<p>Officials at Macy's were unavailable for remark,cheap chanel handbags.</p>
<p>Oregonbased Nike Inc., which has opened 4 Nike Towns nationwide, regards its shops as "brand name enhancers," said spokesman . "It's a place to go see every thing that Nike is about."</p>
<p>Nike's San Francisco store will be modeled following the company's magnificent Nike City emporium in Chicago. Featuring a little basketball courtroom and a host of visual and audio unique effects such as the sounds of squeaking basketball footwear and the smash of tennis balls the Chicago shop is one of the Windy City's biggest vacationer points of interest.</p>
<p>Money NOT PRIORITYKutcher stated it is essential that the stores make cash, but "it's not the complete problem. We want to develop the brand."</p>
<p>In highrent areas like Union Sq., it might prove nearly impossible for a store such as 9 West to turn a revenue.</p>
<p>"Offered the lease at 9 West's place on Union Sq., it is difficult to imagine that the shop will make cash,louis vuitton outlet uk," stated , the real estate broker who negotiated the lease. "They needed the store on Union Sq. to improve the name recognition. It's like a marketing expense."</p>
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