ARDEN B.’S NEW APPROACH
Byline: Melanie Kletter
NEW YORK — Contemporary retailer Arden B. is making some bold moves to freshen up its image.
The 85-unit chain, a division of Wet Seal Inc., is relaunching its brand with a focus on trendy fashions that appeal to working women in their 20s and 30s. As part of the relaunch, Arden B. has been steadily updating its merchandise from an emphasis on careerwear to a focus on updated separates in fabrics such as suede and denim. The company also is beginning to roll out a revamped store prototype and is embarking on a new national advertising campaign this fall.
“We spent some time trying to figure out where we wanted to go and now we feel ready to step out,” said Arden B. president Greg Scott, who joined the chain about a year ago and has been instrumental in updating its direction. “We are trying to appeal to a hipper customer who is fashion forward and trendy. We have found that our customer’s work outfit could be a denim duster. At the same time, we are not trying to be the sexiest player out there.”
The three-year-old division is currently in a growth mode and plans to open seven additional stores this year, and at least that many next year, according to Steve Strickland, Wet Seal’s senior vice president of creative services and marketing.
The company doesn’t break out sales of the Arden B. division.
However, Kathy Bronstein, chief executive officer of Wet Seal Inc., said she was “extremely pleased” with the current performance of the division, which as recently as a year-and-a-half ago was a drain on the company’s overall financial performance.
“I attribute this success to Greg Scott and his team,” she said. “The impact they have made in sales and margin improvement have exceeded all my expectations.”
All new Arden B. stores will feature the updated prototype format, which includes a more airy feeling and a cleaner store design, according to Scott.
“It has a simple, clean palette and brighter colors,” he said. “The fixtures are modular and a lot of the partitions move.”
The first stores to have the new design are slated to open this September in Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio, and in the Georgetown Mall in Washington, D.C.
This fall, Arden B. also will kick off its new ad campaign that was shot at the trendy Lotus Club in New York. It features models and famous New York personalities, such as Michael Musto of the Village Voice, writer Tama Janowitz and Lady Bunny, a transvestite and performer. The ads will run initially in Vogue and In Style.
“We wanted to start showing the attitude of the brand, that this is where hip, young women shop,” Strickland said.
Arden B. has evolved quickly in the last five years. It began in the mid-Nineties as a private label at Wet Seal stores and the company’s Contempo Casuals division, targeting slightly more sophisticated shoppers than its core junior offerings. After finding success with the Arden B. label, it was introduced as a separate retail concept in 1998.
The concept was able to grow quickly since many of the initial units were formerly Britches Great Outdoors Stores, a regional chain that Wet Seal bought in 1999. Most of the Arden B. stores are located in malls, although it has some street locations and is interested in opening more, Scott said.
The firm is anxious to open in Manhattan and has been aggressively scouting locations here, as well as in South Beach in Miami, according to Strickland. Prices at the stores now run from about $32 for a top and up to $800 for a rabbit jacket, with the core price at about $78.
While Wet Seal stores carry some branded apparel and private label offerings, Arden B. doesn’t carry other labels aside from its own, although Scott doesn’t rule out that possibility.
“I am hoping to work with cosmetics and we would sell another brand,” he said.
Arden B.’s growth reflects the overall momentum in the contemporary market, a growing category at retail that includes players such as Bisou Bisou, Betsey Johnson, Theory and ABS by Allen B. Schwartz.
Wet Seal has been spreading its business beyond the fickle junior category. In addition to Arden B., the Foothills Ranch, Calif.-based firm last year bought tween chain Zutopia. Overall, the company had sales of about $580 million last year and operates some 560 stores across all divisions.