LOS ANGELES — J. Lindeberg, the London-based better sportswear company, is expanding its global reach with five signature stores from here to Hong Kong as part of an initiative to evolve the brand into a lifestyle powerhouse.
With the first West Coast shop set to open here in July, privately held J. Lindeberg, founded in Stockholm in 1997, is almost doubling its existing seven stores through its franchise program with independent retailers and distributors.
“It is our strategy to work with local entrepreneurs — retailers who’ve proven to be the best in their marketplaces,” said Al Israel, chief executive officer of Triluxe Apparel Group, also known as TAG, U.S. distributor of J. Lindeberg since 2001 and the creator of the franchise program for the brand. He opened the first flagship, on Spring Street in New York’s SoHo neighborhood, with brand founder Johan Lindeberg, who oversees the design of all the stores.
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J. Lindeberg’s streamlined vision of rock-flavored chic, even in its modern interpretation of golfwear through slim silhouettes and edgy colors and styling, is competing against brands such as Hugo Boss, Helmut Lang and Puma — all of which have exercised similar distribution growth strategies.
Michael Dovan, who franchised J. Lindeberg in Los Angeles and has a 24-month option to open more stores in California, Nevada and Texas, also holds the retail franchise for the Hugo Boss Red Label store at Sunset Plaza in West Los Angeles.
Entering into a franchise partnership may work well for a brand because “it doesn’t really take any more infrastructure on the part of the manufacturer, so they can increase cash flow,” said Richard Giss, partner in the consumer business practice of Deloitte & Touche.
Success depends on the relationship between the designer and franchisee, Giss said. “You always want to enter into such a business arrangement with people who have a common philosophy with you, and you want to make certain the agreement protects the presentation, the promotions,” he said.
Lindeberg and Israel said they will offer franchises only to those who understand the brand. “To succeed, you need to be hands-on every day,’’ Israel said. “These entrepreneurs can do this in a way that the parent company cannot. Johan’s mantra is that he provides the product — he is not the retailer. Establishing these freestanding stores takes the brand to the next level.”
That next level is a growing distribution base through boutiques and department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, which is increasing its availability of the brand to 24 stores from three last year.
The company is projected to reach sales of $25 million this year, with almost half from U.S. sales of the women’s and men’s lines, Lindeberg said. Fall 2004 had a 140 percent boost in U.S. sales of the women’s line because of interest in the progressive styling of the Black Label collection as marketplace trends return to tailored sportswear, Israel said.
Visiting Los Angeles last week to oversee construction of the Beverly Center unit, Lindeberg said the company also has benefited from increased name recognition as celebrities such as Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron and Kate Moss wear the brand.
Lindeberg, 46, said he’s seeking to complete negotiations for a third U.S. store in the South Beach area of Miami, as well as one in Dallas. Units are to open in August in Hong Kong and Stockholm — there are already two there — as well as stores in Tokyo and Copenhagen by year-end.
The 1,250-square-foot Beverly Center space marks number eight, and is next door to the Traffic store, which has carried the women’s and men’s lines for several years. Dovan, who owns the franchise for this address and is responsible for managing and ordering for the new boutique, owns Traffic. He will now claim a total of 5,000 square feet of selling space at the Beverly Center. In addition, there are two Traffic stores in nearby Sunset Plaza and in Costa Mesa, Calif., at South Coast Plaza.
Dovan would not disclose sales figures. He estimated the signature store will take in $1 million annually, which would hit the high end of the $600 to $800 a square foot in sales of stores at the shopping center.
Lindeberg, accompanied here by his wife and business partner, Marcella, 34, and their three-year-old daughter, Blue, said he might buy a home in Los Angeles. “It’s such a strong fashion scene now in L.A.,” he said. “The local designers are getting a following in Europe, and European designers are increasingly coming here. I want to do something here.”
Marcella Lindeberg oversees distribution in the U.K. and her native Italy. She said her husband, who draws much of the aesthetic direction for the brand from fast cars and vintage motorcycles, is enamored of California’s car culture. He is in talks with Volvo to design the interior of a new model.
His goal is to make the company into a lifestyle brand. “I want to create a movement,” said Lindeberg. On the drawing board for a 2005 launch are golfwear and dress footwear, intimate apparel and a fragrance. Plans also include adding housewares and furniture to the portfolio.
The Lindebergs now live in London, where they relocated two years ago after opening the company’s 4,000-square-foot creative studio and distribution center there. Company headquarters is in Stockholm. They expect to sign a lease soon on a showroom in Milan, where the collection is shown, by summer.