Lingerie wars are coming to a mall near you.
Retailers including J.C. Penney, Target and Kohl’s have discovered that women are buying up fashionable underwear, making it a hot trend. To cash in, these retailers are launching lingerie lines or giving old ones a makeover. They also are redecorating dressing rooms and offering professional fitting services. Other companies, including Chico’s, American Eagle Outfitters and Lane Bryant, have created stand-alone lingerie stores.
The retailers are hoping to steal some thunder from Victoria’s Secret chain, which has dominated fashion lingerie in the U.S. for many years.
“Lingerie is second to handbags as the fastest-growing apparel category, so everyone in retail is trying to capitalize on that growth,” said Marshal Cohen, chief research analyst with NPD Group, a market-research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.
Raiding Victoria’s Secret
Several companies are challenging Victoria’s Secret’s dominance of the fashion underwear market:
J.C. Penney
Its Ambrielle lingerie collection, the company predicts, could become one of the store’s private-label “power brands.”
Macy’s
Jenni, Macy’s private brand of colorful panties and bras, is aimed at the “younger customer with a high fashion IQ,” a company spokesman said. It also is gradually introducing “panty bars” — long tables to display underwear — in its intimate-apparel sections nationwide.
Target
The company has redesigned and expanded its private-label Gilligan & O’Malley line, offering seamless bras and sorbet-colored matching lace bra and panty sets displayed as ensembles. However, lingerie was among its weakest sellers last year, according to the company’s monthly sales reports. Target has since tweaked the lines, bringing down prices from a high of $21.99 to a range of $7.99 to $16.99, focusing more on cotton and comfort and grouping products by category again.
Kohl’s
The chain recently announced it is launching three new lingerie lines this year: Moments, its first private-label line, plus collections by Daisy Fuentes and Vera Wang. The Daisy Fuentes line will feature colorful separates designed to appeal to 25- to 40-year-olds; Moments, a more basic look, will be aimed at women 25 to 54; and the Vera Wang collection is intended for fashion-forward customers.
Wal-Mart
It began upgrading the private label Secret Treasures and plus-size Just My Size lingerie a few years ago, plus carrying a fuller range of styles like thongs, in addition to basic brands such as Hanes and others.
