NEW YORK — Some of fashion’s best-known names are playing musical chairs.
Faced with a consolidating department-store industry and eroding sales, some labels are cutting ties with retailers that used to sell their clothing and betting their future on a single chain. Liz Claiborne’s announcement last month that it’s moving its namesake line to J.C. Penney Co. from Macy’s and other stores follows similar moves by brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Dana Buchman.
“You need some sort of chart . . . with retailers and brands, where you are using erasable ink,” said Michael Stone, CEO of The Beanstalk Group, a brand consultant. “They are moving around so much.”
The brand-hopping can confuse shoppers, but in some cases it means they’ll be able to get a taste of designer names that only two years ago were far from their grasp.
Some brands, like Liz Claiborne, had been the anchors at department stores for years, but have hit hard times. Trading mass distribution for better exposure at one store could help them revive their labels. Brands also benefit by getting more-prominent placement in advertising and increased real estate at the chain.
That’s what happened when Macy’s became the exclusive retailer of Tommy Hilfiger women’s and men’s sportswear; the exclusive partnership expanded to children’s wear this past spring. Macy’s has built Hilfiger’s presence in women’s and men’s sportswear to almost 600 stores from about 400 before the tie-up, according to Jim Sluzewski, Macy’s spokesman, citing strong sales.
The exclusive arrangements more tightly intertwine the fates of retailers and the brands they sell.
Dana Buchman, known for career clothes with touches of animal prints that had been a mainstay at upscale department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, has now been reinvented for more frugal shoppers at midbrow retailer Kohl’s Corp.
Meanwhile, Ellen Tracy’s stylish outfits fell out of favor for many executive women who now shun conservative outfits and are buying items from trendier designers. But its new owner is seeking new life exclusively at Macy’s.
The reshuffling is leaving these brands’ loyal shoppers feeling a bit rejected.
Beth Hazlett, an information media executive from Pittsburgh, wasn’t able to find her favorite labels — Dana Buchman and Ellen Tracy — last year at Saks and Nordstrom.
“I feel like they abandoned me in some way,” said Hazlett, who had been buying both brands for at least 15 years.
Dana Buchman separates cost anywhere from $12 to $116 at Kohl’s; previously, pants suits could go for as much as $600. Jackets under a revamped Ellen Tracy will cost $99 to $149 when the brand is launched in 100 Macy’s stores and online in March. That’s a big step down from a range of $400 to $600 that was typical for the brand.
But don’t expect Hazlett to follow Dana Buchman to Kohl’s.
“I’ve never been to Kohl’s,” she said. “And I would not go to Kohl’s.”
