ATLANTA — Rich’s, this city’s 103-year-old grande dame of department stores, is looking more with-it every day, going after that hip city girl in Atlanta as well as the church lady in the suburbs.
That’s because the retailer is setting its sights on streetwear, junior customers, and re-defining the Rich’s brand to stand for greater fashion with less dependence on the big brands and broaden the appeal to its wide geographic reach. The $2 billion 75-unit chain is also revamping stores to make shopping easier, experimenting with new layouts and formats such as open-selling.
“We’re not just about the South,” said Arnold Orlick, chairman and chief executive officer of Rich’s/Lazarus/Goldsmith’s, referring to department store’s recent advertising campaign, “All About the South.” “We want to be a fashion leader in all our stores. In all our regions, we want to build Rich’s, as a brand that is upfront in consumers’ minds.” The division operates in nine states, in the Southeast and Midwest.
During an interview at the executive offices here, Orlick admitted that Rich’s, along with department stores in general, had become stale, failing to keep the edge that could entice customers away from the staggering field of retail choices. He did say that while department stores have had a tough year, Rich’s pulled off a decent fall season in apparel.
Still, through much of the Nineties, Rich’s went through a series of highs and lows. The merger with the former Lazarus division proved more difficult than expected and took longer than expected. While the customers at Lazarus and Rich’s are of similar income and age levels, and valuable synergies and savings would be realized by combining the operations, the parent Federated Department Stores discovered that they have much different shopping patterns and apparel needs.
The soul-searching continued with extensive consumer research, and led Rich’s re-defining itself. That new image — playing up Rich’s historical strengths and heritage while broadening the scope to cover the Midwest stores — will be launched through a major advertising blitz in February.
The new Rich’s approach reflects Federated corporate strategies touching all divisions to “reinvent” the department stores, and some approaches unique to Rich’s.
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The new direction is most evident at a prototype Rich’s store in Atlanta’s Mall of Georgia, opened last month, along with recent renovations of Rich’s Lenox Square flagship store earlier this fall, said Orlick.
The new store expands strong categories — shoes, cosmetics, women’s apparel — and launches a radically different juniors department. While Rich’s has yet to join Macy’s in e-commerce, Internet kiosks in the juniors area is evidence of Federated’s push to combine bricks and clicks.
In addition, the store design is less cluttered, and like some upscale specialty stores, such as Nordstrom, has wider aisles and seating areas to make customers comfortable.
In the junior departments, Rich’s has begun playing up urban looks, featuring such labels as Fubu and Sean John. The store is Rich’s most aggressive bid yet for juniors, as well as young men’s customers. There is also a significant women’s footwear area, with 53,000 pairs in stock. It’s partially inspired by competitor and fellow anchor, Nordstrom.
While Rich’s is going to tweak and renovate areas of all its units, the Lenox Square flagship in Atlanta’s Buckhead community, has been extensively overhauled. However, the most dramatic change is evident at the new Rich’s in the Mall of Georgia. The 227,300-square-foot unit is the first full-line Rich’s Atlanta door in seven years.
At the Mall of Georgia, the juniors, shoes, women’s and cosmetics departments have been expanded and revamped. Merchandising and design features include wider aisles, more visible signs, prominent customer service departments and cozy seating areas, to alleviate some of the stress that’s long been associated with shopping department stores.
Also, there are hip names in the cosmetics department, including Benefit, and following an industry trend, there are open-selling areas for three big vendors — Clinique, Lancome and Estee Lauder — and in all fragrance areas.
Children’s departments, which now include the newly-launched Green Dog private label, are also expanded and updated.
Opened in summer 1999, the 1.7 million-square-foot Mall of Georgia, in Gwinnett County, is so vast that it includes the Mill Creek planned community that surrounds and supports the mall. Aside from Rich’s, the other anchors are Nordstrom, Dillard’s, J.C. Penney and Lord & Taylor.
Gwinnett County, an hour northeast of downtown Atlanta, is one of the country’s fastest growing areas and is a magnet for families with teens and young children. Given its youthful demographic, the mall provides fertile ground for Rich’s to test its juniors concept. Dubbed “Gen-now” the department draws from earlier tests at Macy’s, which is also a division of Federated. If it works here, Gen-now will roll out to other Rich’s/Lazarus/Goldsmith’s stores.
To lure teens off their usual track in the middle of the mall where most teen-oriented stores are, Gen-now has its own entrance from the mall’s common area. For the first time, young men’s and juniors are combined into one big space. There’s 25 percent more square footage than other Rich’s junior departments, and the club-like atmosphere makes a statement with plenty of color, strong graphics, a multi-zone sound system, theatrical lighting, loft-inspired exposed ceilings and stained concrete floors.
There are also cut-out cardboard “Gen-now” figures accessorized with Japanese-inspired graphics, and live models miming still-life frozen poses. Planet Smoothie, an Atlanta-based health-drink chain, has an in-store counter. Celebrity appearances, give-aways, deejays and special events kicked off a grand opening in November, and the store plans to continue the hype.
For the Web-addict, the department includes a kiosk, which allows shoppers to browse the Gen-now site launched in October. It’s Federated’s first juniors site. Shoppers can get trend and event information, play games and participate in surveys and polls. Currently, it’s strictly an information site, though the company is considering e-commerce.
Key juniors brands, such as XOXO, Guess and Tommy, are being edited more carefully and frequently, for newness. Alongside the brand orientation, there are classifications such as knits and basics, and moderate jeans lines LEI, Paris Blues and Mudd. “We’re stressing a Rich’s look over any one name,” Orlick emphasized.
Rich’s is also going after the urban streetwear market, with the recent hiring of Gail Nutt as senior vice president of urban strategy to oversee the effort. Identifying 15 stores with large African-American demographics, Rich’s has brought in lines such as Fubu, Baby Phat and Sean Jean, which will roll out in juniors, young men’s and children’s.
The urban push is also big at Lenox Square, Rich’s flagship. With $100 million in annual sales, the store completed an extensive renovation in November. The overhaul adds 30,000 square feet in men’s areas and reconfigured women’s areas to emphasize key categories. Moderate sportswear has been eliminated at Lenox, in favor of more bridge and better goods in sportswear and ready-to-wear.
Labels like Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne are emphasized. Dresses, an important category in a region where dressing for church and social occasions is a wardrobe staple, also got increased space at Lenox. Key resources include Laundry, Maggy London and Kasper.
Furthermore, there’s a sophisticated beauty component: Rich’s opened its first full spa at Lenox Square in November. The 5,800-square-foot spa, called Ecotage, is the fourth spa venture by Federated. Lenox also has a new personal shopper program and the traditional tree-lighting ceremony that Rich’s holds each Thanksgiving night took place at Lenox this time, rather than downtown. It spotlighted country singer Trisha Yearwood and a crowd of about 200,000.
With apparel the strongest part of Rich’s business for fall, leather has been the number-one trend, followed by sweaters, sparked by color, and then denim. A return to structured, slightly dressier apparel has boosted career wear, said Orlick.
Private label, at 15 percent of total sales, has been strong, he noted, particularly the INC, Style & Co. and Alfani lines.
Rich’s, along with other Federated divisions, is demonstrating greater willingness to test brands, and experimented this fall with Nine West apparel, Kenneth Cole and Anne Klein II.
In the future, the store image will be promoted more than vendor brands, through increased print, radio and TV advertising and catalog pieces. Special events, such as last October’s Lenox Square party with celebrities and sports figures, will be happening more frequently. Challenged to sell full-price in a department store environment that is, and will remain, highly promotional, Rich’s has to build its image as a fashion authority, rather than just a coupon distributor.
“The pendulum is shifting,” said Orlick. “We had lost the balance of fashion and newness, and we need to get our position back as a fashion leader.”