LACOSTE PLANS TO ADD TO STORE SITES IN U.S.
NEW YORK — Lacoste aims to take a bigger bite out of the U.S. sportswear market, with plans to open three 1,400-square-foot stores this spring.
Boutiques will open in April at the Short Hills Mall in Short Hills, N.J., and at The Westchester mall in White Plains, N.Y., with each expected to generate approximately $850 in sales per square foot. The third boutique will open in May in Waikiki, Hawaii, and should generate $3,000 in sales per square foot.
Lacoste apparel, accessories, footwear, sporting goods and fragrance will be offered in each of the planned stores.
As part of a major push in the U.S., Devanlay U.S. — a wholly owned subsidiary of Devanlay SA, which produces Lacoste apparel in France — plans to open at least 12 other boutiques in the U.S. by the end of next year. Devanlay executives are “actively negotiating” leases for sites in Chicago, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Philadelphia and here on Madison Avenue in the 60s, according to Ari Hoffman, president of Devanlay U.S.
The company currently has two U.S. stores, in Palm Beach and Bal Harbour, Fla., both of which opened last year. With 400 freestanding stores and 1,000 accounts in 80 countries, Lacoste sells 25 million units of sportswear annually. For 1995, wholesale volume exceeded $750 million, according to a company spokeswoman.