John Lewis Jr is blunt about his reason for ‘taking the plunge’ into children’s clothing. Though still in his thirties he is an experienced businessman, schooled particularly in the marketing of apparel. The clothing industry is a dynamic one, where taste and fashion can change quickly. If you are doing business in the sector, “awareness” of “where taste and fashion are going” is the secret of staying abreast of the competition. At least that is what Lewis believes.
Accordingly, last Saturday’s launch of John Lewis Styles’ Children’s Department is a strategic initiative by the company designed to add a potentially lucrative prop to an enterprise that has already realised a measure of success in marketing itself. While he intends to sustain the store’s existing Ladies Wear Section, the proprietor concedes that its recent underperformance has provided the impetus for the launch of the new initiative. It is not, Lewis says, an admission of failure, but a strategic concession of the need to make an adjustment.
He is nowhere near “through with ladies fashion” but says that he has been, for some time, grappling with the particular challenges associated with marketing women’s clothing. One of those, he says, is that, by and large, “women buy fashion rather than brand.” It is, Lewis says, not a consideration that can be dismissed in the marketing of women’s clothing. “It conditions purchasing patterns.” Brands, he says, allow for predictability in purchasing. That, to a greater extent, is the case with men’s clothing. “You know the brands and you go out and get them. It’s not the same with women’s fashion.”
He says that the demands of women’s preferences mean that a different approach applies It is much more of a treadmill approach that compels you to “keep going” as far as “buying for women” is concerned. With children’s clothing Lewis believes that he is returning to the accustomed comfort zone that applies in the acquisition of men’s clothing.
He understands only too well, however, that the store’s new venture brings new challenges. Last Saturday’s opening meant that his marketing focus must now pay attention to the seasonal demand associated with Christmas. During his interview with Stabroek Business on Tuesday, he evinced an interest in how the various facets of the media might best “sell” his new venture. It is an aspect of his business to which, he says, he usually gives a great deal of attention. On Tuesday, he was contemplating those aspects of the company’s marketing plans that were likely to attract a greater measure of consumer attention to children’s clothing.
There is, too, the concern that potential customers do not perceive the venture to target the “high end” of the market. He is, he says, aiming at the “middle,” imbued with the belief that it is the nexus between quality and price that attracts the smart customer.
The decision “to get into children’s clothing” has been influenced by what he believes have been generational changes in the relationships between parents and children. He believes that by and large the contemporary child is better off. “On the whole parents these days appear to want to do much more for their children. Very often it is simply a matter of giving their children what they never had.”
Upstairs on the third floor the Children’s Department offers sizes that would usually accommodate children aged up to around 16 years old. The shop has chosen to embrace what is potentially the most lucrative end of the market; more than that it appears readied for a seasonal ‘invasion.’
With Christmas in the air, Lewis says he believes the option of clothing may make a welcome change of gift choices from what has been, in recent years, the preference of electronic gadgets.
After that, he knows that the store’s year-round acquisitions will have to continue to meet the challenges of a demanding market.
