NEW YORK — Sag Harbor doesn’t want to be known as a traditional moderate brand.
Beginning with September deliveries, the label has been rehauled to look more modern in order to service its changing moderate consumer. After months of consumer research, which is ongoing through its Web site sagharbor.com, the fall line will offer a slew of new products, concentrating on the consumer’s lifestyle, rather than just providing clothing for one part of her life. And the rehaul includes a new face of the brand: model Christie Brinkley.
“Sag Harbor used to be much more career-driven,” said Paul Robb, chief executive officer of Kellwood’s Lifestyle Design Group, a division that includes Sag Harbor. “Now it’s much more lifestyle-driven, feeding all of the customers’ needs.”
Robb said that the company’s research has shown that the customer looks to a brand for three things: fit, style and color. So Sag Harbor has revamped its fit to be more consistent and has just launched a new pants program, highlighting five different pants fits: the Carley, a slim, straight-leg style that sits at the waist; the Hayward, a relaxed fit through the hip and thigh with an adjustable waistband; the Whitley, a straight-leg style that sits just below the waist, has a flexible waistband and a built-in control panel in the front; the Langley, a mid-rise boot-cut that is slim through the hip and thigh; and the Kendrick, a relaxed-fit, straight-leg style that sits just below the waist.
As an added bonus, the company has introduced a guaranteed fit program so that if a customer isn’t satisfied with her pants, she can send them directly to Sag Harbor, with the original sales receipt, for a full refund.
“The stores really love that, so they don’t have to deal with the returns,” said Fran Boland, president of sales and marketing for Sag Harbor.
The company will break a national print ad campaign featuring Brinkley this fall. Sag Harbor has been advertising for the past two years, which Robb said has helped with brand awareness. When the campaign featuring Brinkley breaks in the September issues of O, The Oprah Magazine, In Style and Redbook, among others, Robb said he hopes customers will see the Sag Harbor brand in a whole new light.
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“We’ve really changed the whole design process to translate the trends so they are appropriate for our customer,” said Nisa Mellin, senior vice president of design at Sag Harbor. “The clothes are timeless, fashionable classics for this Baby Boomer shopper. She may be older, but her mind-set is younger. “
For fall, Sag Harbor’s offerings include a large selection of cotton cable-knit sweaters in a variety of colors; cotton button-down shirts in stripes, vintage-inspired prints and solids; stretch cotton pants and skirts, and velour jackets with matching pants. Overall, price ranges have not changed, with everything retailing from a suggested range of $17.99 to $54.99.
It’s obvious the relaunch was a much-needed one for Sag Harbor. The brand has been through its share of problems in recent seasons. Last year, it was dropped from Federated Department Stores, resulting in a 10 percent volume loss; it lost its longtime president, Marty Brody, to retirement, and was seen as a traditional brand in a slew of more modern labels in the moderate area.
But Sag Harbor remains vital to its parent company, Kellwood. Raking in about $400 million at wholesale, the brand is still the largest and most profitable in Kellwood’s portfolio. Despite its drop from Federated, Sag Harbor’s list of retail clients is healthy, including stores such as J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Belk, Bon- Ton, Boscov’s, Stage Stores and others.
In order for the brand to keep its customer base, executives at Kellwood knew there had to be some major changes. After all, according to research done by The NPD Group, women spent $14.1 billion on sportswear in department stores in 2005, up 9.5 percent over the previous year. However, the moderate sportswear area in department stores is slipping. In 2005, women spent $5.2 billion on moderate sportswear, down 3.7 percent from 2004. Industry sources
attribute that to the consumer’s preference to make a purchase on sale in the better and designer departments, than to buy in moderate.
Department stores looking to keep the Sag Harbor brand on the floors are also hoping the fall line will boost sales.
“Sag Harbor is an important brand for our customers,” said Liz Sweney, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for women’s apparel at J.C.Penney. “We continue to work closely with Kellwood to improve the brand and make appropriate changes to connect with our customers. The customer is always the one who determines whether a brand is on track. We’re looking forward to the fall and holiday Sag Harbor assortments.”
For the holiday delivery, Sag Harbor will introduce its “The Gift I Give” campaign. A percentage of each sweater will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, up to $250,000.
In another effort to bring in new business, Sag Harbor plans to open full-price Sag Harbor stores next year, but the company hasn’t selected the locations yet. In addition, the company just opened seven outlet stores for the brand.
“The seven [outlet] stores that we recently opened are not new stores for Kellwood,” said Donna Weaver, vice president of corporate communications at Kellwood. “Formerly, they were David Brooks outlet stores in premium outlet mall locations. After we closed our Kellwood New England business unit, we decided to use these locations to test Sag Harbor outlet stores.”
Robb also noted the company is planning to launch an e-commerce site at the end of the year.
In other news at Kellwood, Jeffery Streader was named president of the company’s operating services division. Streader joins the company with 25 years of experience developing and delivering strategic supply chain solutions. Prior to this appointment, he served as a vice president of sourcing for VF Imagewear, a subsidiary of VF Corp. He began his career with Oxford Industries in 1981.
Streader replaces Tom Austin, who is retiring next month. Based in New York, Streader reports to W. Lee Capps 3rd, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Kellwood.