The denim and sportswear company Sixty has hit the accelerator on its retail strategy, launching three stores in the Southwest since July as part of a plan to roll out 14 full-price and seven outlet locations in the U.S. by the end of the year.
The 17-year-old privately held company — owner of women’s brands Miss Sixty and Killa and the men’s brands Sixty and Energie — is based in Chieti, Italy, and operates about 300 monobrand boutiques globally.
California continues to be a key market for Sixty, with seven stores in the state, including a flagship on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, which opened in November 2003 — a Miss Sixty/Energie location. In September and October, the company launched two 1,200-square-foot Miss Sixty stores in the state — a unit at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, and one in the new wing of the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park.
“The West Coast is really open to the glamour and the feel of the Miss Sixty brand; they really accept it,” said Joe Falco, president of Sixty’s wholesale division. “Based on results from the Melrose store, it’s given us the confidence to continue [growing] on the West Coast.”
The company also has been focused on markets in the Southwest. It opened a Miss Sixty store at NorthPark Center mall in Dallas in July, and in October, launched a Miss Sixty store at the Houston Galleria in Texas, and a Miss Sixty outlet at the Las Vegas Fashion Outlets in Primm, Nev.
In September, Sixty opened its 5,200-square-foot Super Mega Store concept at the Ala Moana shopping center in Honolulu, merging all its brands under one roof. The loft-like unit is Sixty’s fourth flagship, joining stores in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. “Our goal is to have 45 to 50 new stores open over the next three years,” Falco said.
These include the Forum Shops in Las Vegas and Westfield’s Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J., where the company has signed leases. “We potentially will have two additional stores in New York, Chicago and Atlanta, too,” Falco said. “The company is really focusing on the U.S. as a key market.”
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The Miss Sixty brand accounts for about 35 percent of Sixty’s global sales. The two-year-old junior line, Killa, is “a fast-growing brand for us,” Falco said.
The company expects to reach annual sales of 700 million euros, or about $894 million, in 2006. “The worldwide goal is that we’ll hit 930 million euros, almost $1.2 billion at current exchange rates, by the end of 2009,” said Falco. “Retail plays a big part of that goal. Our stores give us the opportunity to build brand equity and brand awareness — by showcasing our brands in our environment.”