{"id":710,"date":"2009-07-30T09:53:49","date_gmt":"2009-07-30T16:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/denim-brands\/denim-brands-international\/super-premium-denim-jeans-sales-fall-while-denim-rules\/"},"modified":"2009-07-30T09:53:49","modified_gmt":"2009-07-30T16:53:49","slug":"super-premium-denim-jeans-sales-fall-while-denim-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/brands\/denim-brands-international\/super-premium-denim-jeans-sales-fall-while-denim-rules\/710","title":{"rendered":"Super Premium Denim Jeans Sales Fall While Denim Rules .."},"content":{"rendered":"

The year 2008 has been bad for most of the industries and early 2009 has not been good either.Apparel industry<\/strong> has not been an exception and  has been hit with a 6.3% decline in the first quarter<\/strong>.. However, sales of denim jeans has been a bright spot in this otherwise dismal scenario. The sales of jeans has actually grown 2.3% in this period . Does it mean that denim jeans are actually cannibalizing the share of other apparel bottoms ? Possibly . Levi’s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which has seen a growth in denim sales, has its non-denim Dockers brand  hit hard, and several of its retail stores have gone out of business.<\/font> <\/p>\n

But all is not gung-ho in the denim industry . Some of the segments of the industry have suffered while others have gained. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s try to find answers to some questions related to the denim industry in US.<\/font> <\/p>\n

<\/font>  <\/p>\n

What is the situation of the total denim sales in USA ?<\/font><\/strong> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The denim jeans industry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a $13 billion industry<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has actually grown 2.3%<\/strong> December 2008 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c February 2009 where the apparel sales as a whole has declined 6.3% !<\/font><\/li>\n
  2. Sales of large denim companies has improved .VF reported revenue from Wrangler jeans was up 3% in the first quarter of 2009, and Lee jeans sales was up 7%<\/strong> !<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/font><\/p>\n

    What is happening to the Super Premium Denim Category ?<\/font><\/strong> <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. This category of premium denims with a price tag of $200+  has suffered and sales went down 17%<\/strong> in this category last year .<\/font><\/li>\n
    2. Reason \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Inspirational shoppers are not going that high and luxury customers are not buying more than 2-3 pairs anymore..<\/font><\/li>\n
    3. So at 7 for All Mankind, about 95% of the company’s jeans are now less than $200, up from 70% a year ago.<\/font><\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. True Religion :<\/strong> Wholesale sales were down 17%<\/strong> in the first quarter, and sales at its stand-alone stores were down about 10%. But they are not yet changing their strategy and reducing prices. They expect consumers to come back for their jeans.<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/font><\/p>\n

      What are the manufacturers of Premium Denim Brands doing to fight recession ?<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

      <\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. They are trying to communicate to their buyers why their jeans are so expensive<\/strong>. As Topher Gaylord, President of  7 for All Mankind<\/a> says "It’s the hand distressing and other denim treatments make his production costs 10 times higher than jeans sold in the mass market\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> and this is what they are tyring to teach their customers.<\/font><\/li>\n
      2. Due to drop in sales at Luxury departmental stores, they are trying to open more of their own stores.<\/strong> True Religion<\/a> opened more than 30 in the last year. Lucky Jeans<\/a>, owned by Liz Claiborne , is adding a number of specialty shops .<\/font><\/li>\n
      3. They are trying to become a Life Style brand<\/strong> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with non-denim clothes and accessories to thrive.<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        <\/font><\/p>\n

        What are Department Stores doing to shore up their denim sales ?<\/font><\/strong>   <\/font><\/p>\n

        <\/font><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Discounting their prices . Not depending on sales of Premium Denim Brands and instead focusing on their own or other mid-priced denim brands.<\/font><\/li>\n
        2. Trying to add more denim brands . J.C.Penny<\/a>  now sells about 25% more brands of jeans than it did five years ago, including wide-leg dark-denim jeans with cuffs<\/font><\/li>\n
        3. Department stores are buying more of the $200-and-under jeans for this  fall.<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          <\/font><\/p>\n

          What are traditional denim brands like Levi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Wrangler doing?<\/strong><\/font> <\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Trying to understand the needs<\/strong> of their consumers better and delivering those products at reasonable prices.<\/font><\/li>\n
          2. Levi’s<\/strong> eg, is capitalizing on the trend toward "boyfriend jeans<\/strong>," which are snug on the rear and loose in the legs.were snug skinny-fit jeans, slim-fit jeans that Graden says are "not as snug," as well as new back-pocket treatments.<\/font><\/li>\n
          3. Wrangler <\/strong>began offering jeans with a "Comfort Solution,"<\/strong> which includes a waistband that expands as you move.<\/font><\/li>\n
          4. Gap<\/a><\/strong> is trying to build jeans every bit as good as any premium player and trying to regain lost market share by offering 7 seven different "fits" for men and seven for women, including "always skinny" and "curvy."<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            <\/font><\/p>\n

            So it seems that denim is there to stay \u00e2\u20ac\u201c whether its good times or bad. But denim brands will have adopt different strategies and cater to their own niche in a proper way. Check out some more details on Premium Denims on this article from USA Today  here<\/a> .  <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The year 2008 has been bad for most of the industries and early 2009 has not been good either.Apparel industry has not been an exception and  has been hit with a 6.3% decline in the first quarter.. However, sales of denim jeans has been a bright spot in this otherwise dismal scenario. The sales of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[69,455,456],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-denim-brands-international","tag-premium-denim","tag-premium-denim-jeans-market","tag-premium-denim-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denimsandjeans.com\/recovery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}