Issue Story

From the January 1 2010 issue of MR Magazine

Features

Furnishings: A Glimmer of Hope

Harry Sheff

The Numbers

Despite some predictions that furnishings, particularly dress shirts, would see some modest boost in sales during the recession, the numbers haven’t shown it. The logic was that men, either looking for jobs or trying to keep their existing jobs, would go out and restock their wardrobes with smart, clean white shirts and maybe add a tie or two.

According to NPD Group, dollar volume in both dress shirts and ties was down almost 17 percent from the summer of 2008 to the summer of 2009. Steve Pruitt, whose firm Blacks Retail Analysis tracks independent better men’s specialty stores, found the drops deeper still: down 21 percent for dress shirts and down 33 percent for ties. Consultant Danny Paul noted that both categories saw steep declines in nearly every month this year, even in months when clothing was seeing upticks.

Obviously there’s more than one problem affecting the furnishings business. It’s tied to suits, says Pruitt, and the suit business has been falling off for the last 60 years. Add to that a recession that started in the spring of 2007 and the Wall Street debacle of fall 2008, and you’ve got some really depressing numbers.

Is there a glimmer of hope? Yes, for business in general, says Pruitt. “The best case scenario for the next six to eight months will be even to small single-digit increases over last year. When we get into the fall of 2010 we will begin to see some growth again, but it’s going to take awhile.”

The Trends

After the industry embraced the narrowing of neckties, widths have leveled off between 3 and 3.5 inches. Anything narrower than 3 inches is a niche business, observers like Doneger’s Sharon Hausner say. Widths have been consistent with brand DNAs: younger brands have found success with narrow models.

On the retail side, JCPenney’s Steve Lawrence told us that private label Stafford ties have slimmed down slightly, as have Concepts by Claiborne (which is currently at 3 inches wide). JCPenney even offers Van Heusen and private label J Ferrar ties at 2.75 inches. “Although they’re a very small part of our business,” Lawrence said, “they’re performing well, with consistent sell-throughs better than the department average.”

Doneger’s Hausner sees plaids, especially in larger patterns, gaining ground in ties (though not any longer in dress shirts). Striped ties have also grown as the preppy and vintage-inspired trends take hold among a more general audience.

Knit ties have seen success at J. Crew ($49.50 retail), and are being pushed as part of Saks’ new private label collection ($75 retail). Like bow ties, they have not reached the mass market, but directional brands continue to feature them.

In dress shirts, patterns tend to be conservative micro checks, or, more likely, textured solid colors. “The pattern in dress shirts is slowing down as patterns move back into the sportswear arena,” observes Hausner. “We see a lot of white, because that’s the interview shirt, but we’re seeing a lot of textures—everything is textured—and it’s all about the fit.”

Men continue to seek value, buying dress shirts to wear both in the office and after work. Number sizing gives men the confidence of a better fit, and most vendors offer “slim” or “modern” versions of their dress shirts. Non-iron or wrinkle-free shirts are now the norm.

According to Doneger’s research, collars are getting shorter, but not too short. French cuffs are trending down.

“We definitely see more color,” Hausner says. “It’s not just white and blue—there are lots of fresh colors like greens, yellow, aqua and purple.”

Industry Insights

“I hate when people say that dress furnishings is a dying business, or a category for old guys. It’s totally untrue! Shirts and ties have always been part of our culture. And young guys are wearing them, but in different ways.” —Marc Schneider, president of PVH’s new furnishings division. Pictured at left: Arrow shirts

Private Label Neckwear: When a major neckwear vendor raised its prices, the 16-store West Coast chain Patrick James found itself relying more on its private label neckwear business.

The Versatile Dress Shirt: “Guys are looking for purchases they can justify,” says Patrick James’s Pat Mon Pere. “Dressy sportshirts that a guy can wear under a blazer or dress shirts that have the look and feel of a sportshirt in terms of color story and fabrication—that’s one way we’ve tried to stimulate things.”

“Stores don’t need as many vendors anymore,” Private Stock Neckwear’s Gary Cahn says. “I think the stores need to build their own brands, and that’s where our success has been: in private labeling stores’ ties.”

Dress shirts are down 16.8 percent in dollar volume from August 2008 to August 2009, according to NPD Group’s research. Neckwear is down 16.9 percent in the same period.

Preppy Stripes

Classic repp ties, like these from England’s Smart Turnout ($70 retail), are back as men revisit preppy styles. At left are stripes representing a Scottish school, the Royal Army Medical Corps, and the British Army’s Household Division.

Indiana Upstart

Former aeronautical engineer and Airforce test pilot Birk Billingsley started Billingsley Ties with custom tailor Wallaya Diemer in Indiana last summer. Ties like the “Attitude Indicator,” picture above, which features a cockpit gauge motif, sell for $130 on www.billingsleyties.com. All are made in Bloomington, Indiana.