By Harry Sheff
It’s been a good year for Frank Chellew and his tailored clothing team at Macy’s. For the past 12 months, clothing business has continued to show consistent gains, with the ubiquitous slim two-button flatfront model clearly driving sales. “The clothing customer is back and he’s responding to new ideas,” Chellew proclaims. “As clothing business softened a few years ago, assortments got limited and product got basic. It became so boring that no one wanted it. Fortunately, there’s lots of newness out there now and the customer is buying it. The most successful ideas are reasonable, not radical.”
According to Chellew’s estimates, slimmer models are now generating 30 to 40 percent of the suit business. “There are various gradations of slim,” he explains, “but bottom line, most customers find a modern fit more flattering.”
In addition to slim, the other important change in Macy’s clothing business is the growing acceptance of seasonal suits: lighter weights and lighter colors for spring, loftier fabrics (flannels, corduroys, cashmere blends) for fall. A walk through the floor this spring has seasonal clothing at about 25 to 30 percent to total. “We’ve stepped out just enough that we’re losing a little sleep, which is good!” says Chellew. Prominent signs on the selling floor highlight linen and light-colored sportcoats.
The ticket price range on suits at Macy’s is $350 to $995 and Chellew maintains that all price zones are performing. “It’s not true that business at the top was hardest hit,” he says. “Like so many things in life, it’s all about balance. We’ve got lots of different customer types with lots of different needs. If you examine our business door by door, the mix is highly localized.”
With suit separates in about 650 doors across the country, Chellew explains that nested suits are in about half of these. “Our suit separates business continues to grow exponentially,” he observes, noting that this business is all finished bottoms and is treated more like ready-to-wear.
Another area of excitement is sportcoats and Chellew credits the market for stepping it up a notch. “There’s some great new product out there for the first time in ages. I love the casual relaxed models: lightly structured, somewhat shorter in great new fabrics including double-knits. There are some wonderful new patterns in sportcoats, many less traditional.” As for dress trousers, Chellew reiterates that flatfronts are gaining ground, and that pattern work is becoming more important here as well.
He’s also excited about the topcoat market for fall. “At one time it was all about long traditional coats but this season, there are lots of new ideas including shorter lengths and updated design elements that appeal to a more modern customer, young or old!”
Among Macy’s many strengths, says Chellew, is a sizing team that tailors the mix to the door level. With several competitors now venturing into extended sizes in separate store formats, Chellew remains confident that Macy’s can continue to satisfy both big & tall and smaller guys. Says Judy Larch, DPM, “The field team influences not just sizes but also swatches, timing and brands by door.”
Which is why Chellew has tremendous confidence in Macy’s value proposition, despite the challenge of sharply rising fabric costs. “I think we’ll be okay,” he maintains. “The customer understands that prices are going up, and while we’ll most likely add some wool blends (which will be marketed as performance product), our core business is pure wool clothing and we’ll continue to offer great value on this.”
Asked if national brands might become more important in an inflationary economy (since consumers might perceive more intrinsic value to the name), Chellew makes a good point. “In our case, many of our store brands are already perceived as national brands so the customer perceives value in both. At the moment, both national brands and store brands are performing equally well but in the end, the customer gets to vote.”
