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| Aimed at customers with less disposable income than those who shop at Brooks Brothers stores, the new 346 store in Town Center has a mix of dressy and casual clothing.
(L.Todd Spencer photos/The Virginian-Pilot) |
By carolyn shapiro
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH - Brooks Brothers purists will notice a few out-of-the ordinary items at the new 346 store at Town Center.
Blue jeans, for one thing.
The manufacturer and retailer known for its traditional business suits and men's dress shirts has embraced casual clothes, as much for women as for men, with lower price tags. The Town Center store, which opened May 20, is one of the first three locations for 346 in the nation.
Aimed at consumers with less disposable income than those who tend to shop at the regular Brooks Brothers stores, the 346 selection costs about 25 percent less than the retailer's namesake line, said Louis Amendola, the company's executive vice president of merchandising. 346 also carries more women's clothing - about 50 percent of the mix, compared with about 20 percent in a primary Brooks Brothers location. 346 stores are smaller as well.
"We view this product as the kind of entry price point into the world of Brooks Brothers," Amendola said, adding it fills a niche for "more refined sportswear dressing."
The Town Center store, around the corner from The Cheesecake Factory, carries T-shirts, sweaters and slacks as well as men's sport jackets, women's tailored suits, accessories such as handbags, and ties in a rainbow of colors. Displays show patchwork plaid pants and jackets for men, women's polo shirts and shorts in candy pink and green.
The 346 concept is "really more in keeping with our customer profile," said Gerald S. Divaris, chairman of Divaris Real Estate, the leasing agent for the Town Center development. "If you look at Virginia Beach, it's a mixture of casual and preppy."
346 stands for the company's address on Madison Avenue in New York. It's the name of a sportswear line that the company has had in its closet for many years.
Retail Brand Alliance Inc., a holding company based in Enfield, Conn., bought Brooks Brothers in 2001 and turned its focus to expansion of the chain, according to Hoover's Inc., which compiles research and information on U.S. companies.
346 allows the company the flexibility to open in malls or "lifestyle centers" such as Town Center, where the demographics wouldn't necessarily fit the typical Brooks Brothers target, Amendola said. The retailer saw Hampton Roads as an ideal place to test the concept. Kansas City, Kan., and Pittsburgh also have 346 stores, and nine other locations are planned for this year.
"Not every area we feel can carry a full-fledged Brooks Brothers store," he said. In Virginia Beach, "the demographics didn't indicate that there was a big need for men's suits that are around $1,000."
Some 346 items have sold at Brooks Brothers factory outlet stores in the past. On the Brooks Brothers Web site, the store locator lists the Town Center store as "factory/outlet."
Amendola explained that the designation reflects technology constraints and the lack of an accurate search category for the new chain. Factory outlets, including one in Williamsburg, mostly sell irregular and out-of-season merchandise from Brooks Brothers stores at a discount, he said.
Divaris doesn't see the 346 store as a lower rung on Brooks Brothers' retail ladder. He recently bought a pink seersucker blazer at 346 that he later saw in a regular Brooks Brothers store in an upscale mall in San Jose, Calif., he said.
The 346 store sells men's dress shirts for $54 each. A pair of brown houndstooth linen slacks cost $69.50. Nodding to its Brooks Brothers roots, a classic navy blazer with brass buttons hangs on the 346 racks with a price tag of $298.
A women's black blazer and pants together cost $279. A crisp pink dress shirt, with French cuffs and woven buttons, is priced at $54. T-shirts run $19.50, and some are marked 25 percent off.
All the clothes carry the 346 label. Only a few include the "Brooks Brothers" moniker. The sign over the front door says Brooks "346" Brothers, though "346" alone adorns the awnings.
Brooks Brothers has a reason to make 346 different from its other stores, said Robert Passikoff, president and founder of Brand Keys Inc., a market research and consulting company. Clothing shoppers today make more buying decisions on convenience and price than on brand or on the characteristics of a particular chain.
For retailers to expand sales and attract additional traffic in this environment, they have to find a way to offer items different from those that their existing customers expect, Passikoff said. "It isn't the same audience," he said of 346.
In the 2006 Fashion Loyalty Index, a survey that Brand Keys released in March, Brooks Brothers ranked No.?19 on a list of 42 brands that consumers tended to favor because they considered them valuable. Passikoff believes diehard Brooks Brothers shoppers will see 346 stores as an opportunity to spend less for the qualities they associate with the brand, he said.
346 also will carry a few items that the namesake stores sell, such as chino pants, Amendola said. "That's why it's still a Brooks Brothers store."
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| The casual wear is “really more in keeping with our customer profile,” said Gerald S. Divaris, chairman of Divaris Real Estate. “If you look at Virginia Beach, it’s a mixture of casual and preppy.”. |
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