| TORONTO
— Soft sport coats and a colorful palette will dominate Canadian retail
floors next fall, according to stores attending FashionNorth here last week,
many of whom reported doubledigit growth in 2005. And judging by attendance,
the show is still growing. The first edition last February featured 77 compa
nies and 160 collections and attracted about 1,100 buyers from across Canada.
This third edition (the second was in August) has grown to 130 companies
and over 330 collec tions and drew close to 1,500 buyers, according to
show organizer Ralph Weil. "We outgrew our old space of 65,000 square
feet and are now up to 90,000 square feet in a different building. We can
still grow, but not as quickly, and only up to a maxi mum of 110,000 square
feet." More space was needed to accommodate a lot of new exhib itors
who waited to see if the show was going to be success ful before committing.
Others, such as Rifle Jeans and Capital Mercury Apparel, both of New York,
took space because they were bringing product to Canada for the first time.
Unfortunately for Roberto Ordonez of Capital, his sam ples of knits and
wovens under the NYNE label were stuck at Customs on the first day of the
show. His Canadian launch will be in April at Hudson's Bay Co. Donald Hall
of Rifle and Super Rifle Jeans was hop ing to have his product in a few
doors by next fall and had appointments lined up with several retailers
at the show. He was touting the handwork and asymmetrical pockets at a competitive
$150 as selling points for Super Rifle Jeans. Another firsttime exhibitor
was Buffalo Jeans of Montreal who decided to participate because the show
has expanded its concept, according to sales manager Brent Unger.
"The first show was more of a gentlemen's show as opposed to a junior
or contemporary show, but they want to develop that sector. We attended
in August and decided to exhibit at this show." PVH Dress Shirt Group
was also a first time participant because it is setting up a Canadian affiliate
and building a showroom in Toronto. "Our products [Calvin Klein, Geoffrey
Beene, Van Heusen, Kenneth Cole, Izod, Arrow, Chaps and Donald Trump] have
been available in Canada under license for a long time, but we're taking
the license back and tagging onto our U.S. production," explained Richard
Deck, vice president, Canada. "We'll be shipping 140,000 units by
the end of February to all the majors, including The Bay, Zellers, Sears
and Tip Top." "Our sales were up over 16 percent, because the
economy is very strong and we're becoming more of a destination store,"
said Graham O'Connor of O'Connors in Calgary, Alberta. "Sportswear
was exceptionally good along with casual pants. Suits didn't do too badly
either." In clothing, O'Connor bought from his usual vendors of Samuelsohn,
Coppley and SFI, and added knitwear from Serica of Italy. Business was up
by about 10 percent at Kerry's in Toronto, said Sol Korman, who ended the
year with clean inventory. "We look at the panel and fabric more than
price, and the fabric has to have a feeling to sell," he said of his
luxury store. "The unconstructed jacket and lots of color will be big
next fall, along with $300 jeans. But Boss is still our numberone seller."
Harry Rosen enjoyed a "terrific year" with sales up 11 percent
across the retailer's 15 stores, according to Larry Rosen. "Our sport
jacket business was excellent, but sportswear in general along with clothing
and outerwear were also good." |
Richard Deck of PVH Dress Shirt Group
with a customer
Rosen
saw a lot of different ideas at FashionNorth and expects soft sport coats
to continue to be strong next fall along with designer jeanswear. He picked
up two new lines at the show, Victorinox and Fagonnable, both from Throat
Threads Apparel. The latter line will also be added to Rosario Versace's
portfolio at his Bentons store in Ottawa, Ontario. Although sales last
year were about the same as 2004, he said suits sold well. In addition to
Facjonnable, Versace liked the new direction of Gant and was also impressed
with coats from Cardinal of Canada and may carry both for fall. Despite
a soft spring and summer, business was up 7 percent at Henry Marks & Sons
in Montreal, according to Glen Noble. He was impressed with the presentation
and service at the show. "I saw a lot more color and a lot of new styles
in terms of accessories, and sweaters were softer and more casual. There
was also a lot of corduroy and cashmere, particu larly in coats."
The trade show kicked off with a presentation by Hartmarx Corp. chairman
Homi Patel who opined that customers don't know what they want, and it's
up to retail ers to show them the way, "If you show them the same
thing season after season, there is no need for them to come into your store.
You must come up with new products, and techno products are hot." Patel
also encouraged retailers not to give up on an idea that might not have
worked the first time. "We tried opening stores in China 14 years ago,
and it was a disaster. It doesn't mean it won't work [now]. You have to
create value by knowing your unique strengths. Going head to head with everyone
else is not necessarily your best strategy." Asked how he gets younger
people to buy suits, Patel said it's a problem everyone is grappling with.
"But about 10 years ago, we created the Bobby Jones line for our Hickey
customer, and it's done extremely well. You have to find different ways
to pick their pockets. If they're not buying suits, you have to innovate
by offering something else like suitcases. Outerwear used to be a commodity.
Now it's a fivefigure item." In terms of whether having more customers
is more important than retaining customers, Patel said extreme loyalty is
more important for specialty stores. "We do 50 percent of our business
with about eight customers." Asked where growth will come from over
the next five years, Patel said it will continue to come from fashion prod
ucts in addition to suits. "Casual dress is the growth area. And while
tailored clothing will continue to grow, it won't be at the same rate as
in past years." •
|
