Sears' New Apparel Chief May Not Be the Chic Solution to Better Sales
The latest spin on the eight ball of Sears' (SHLD) apparel strategy is a puzzler. Bealls veteran Lana Cain Krauter is set to take over the helm of apparel beginning February 1. Responsible for the growth of the department both in-store and online, Krauter's part of the executive team implementing chairman Eddie Lampert's scatter shot strategy to beef up the company's bottom line. But it's hard to see how her appointment will boost Sears' fashion quotient.
To her credit, Krauter came packing an innovative sales concept right at the start of her time at Florida-based Bealls in 2008. Back then, she told a reporter at the St. Petersburg Times, "A decade ago every retailer segmented customers: 25 to 40, middle-income, married, two kids and she's going to wear this. Women don't shop like that. So we are starting to merchandise by lifestyle, not age."
It's a strategy that's been imitated with success by a variety of savvy retailers from J. Crew (JCG) and Anthropologie (URBN) to Chico's (CHS). But even if you take age out of the marketing equation, a closer look at the "lifestyle" Krauter was peddling at Bealls reveals its core customer is looking for comfort first, chic second (see the capris pictured right). It's hard to see how Krauter's going to tear it up in the juniors' segment coming from an assortment that's more forgettable than fashion-forward.
The Bealls Web site is equally snooze-inducing. And looks like it hasn't been updated in a good 10 years.
Yet, it doesn't end there. Krauter's pedigree includes stints at Goody's -- the struggling discount apparel chain that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy not once, but twice in 2008-2009 -- and JCPenney (JCP), where she helped rope in Ralph Lauren to collaborate on JCP's American Living collection. Let's not forget the latter generated some pretty hideous press around a clause in Lauren's contract that mandated shredding unsold (yet perfectly serviceable) merchandise.
Krauter's credentials even include a tour of duty at Sears back in the 90s. She's widely credited with being at the helm of the "softer side of Sears" campaign which sizzled, then fizzled as the retailer shucked its soft goods in favor of flogging tools and appliances.
But the most puzzling aspect of this particular bit of experience is that Krauter cried foul on Sears' decision to cast aside apparel during that time. "We could not overcome the old line, military-like culture of the company. They treated us like competition. No matter how hard we tried to make it an apparel company, it would never happen."
Never say never, Ms. Krauter. Now that you're back in the Sears saddle at its new design HQ in the fashion hive that is San Francisco, you'll have to swallow those words and get on the style stick ASAP. I hope you've still got some chic tricks up your sleeve.
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