California Apparel News

Body-conscious Los Angeles isn’t stopping the J. Jill Group from bringing its flowing fashions to malls throughout the metropolitan area.

The Quincy, Mass.-based specialty retailer and catalog operator just debuted at Glendale Galleria in Glendale in May, and Westfield’s Shoppingtown in Canoga Park in March, with plans to open at Paseo Colorado in Pasadena, Avenue of the Peninsula in Palos Verdes, and Sherman Oaks Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks later this fall.

It is too early to gauge retail sales, but Galleria marketing director Annette Bethers said the 4,785-square-foot store is performing well. “Their apparel is right for the markethellip;you don’t have to think too hard about it,” Bethers said. “It has good price points and is easy to wear.”

That formula is proving to be a boon to a baby-boomer market recently slighted by retailers’ slavish attention to Generation Y.

“We did research and found baby boomers are finding shopping frustrating and not staying as long at malls, so we’ve been looking for a better way to serve them,” Bethers said. “J. Jill is a beautiful, relaxing environment that gives shoppers a different feel.”

Wall sconces, landscape portraits, a water fountain and sand-filled vases touting the words “breathe,” “unwind” and “escape” are the types of touches a shopper finds at J. Jill. The clothing is a blend of casual weekendwear and relaxed career attire. Muted colors are the norm—think seafoam and sunlight—and items range from $17 lettuce-edged cotton T-shirts to $78 layered panel skirts with contrast stitching.

The company began opening retail stores in 1999 and went from two to 22 outlets in 2000. Though most of J. Jill’s sales still come from its catalog, the company plans to more than double its store count this year to at least 47. Individual store sales average $450 a square foot, exceeding mall averages, with estimates to hit $500 this year.

Other merchants may be scaling back in a slowing economy, but J. Jill’s aggressive growth strategy is opportune, according to Jeffrey Klinefelter, analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

“This is the best time for a retailer to expand,” Klinefelter said. “It’s harder to expand when others are doing well. Now is also a time for a merchant to negotiate a better lease package.”

So far, the retail malaise hasn’t cooled J. Jill’s strong sales streak. For the first quarter ending March 31, 2001, net sales increased by 30.3 percent to $63.3 million from $48.6 million a year earlier.

During a recent weekday lunch hour, the Galleria store bustled with customers, including Becky Bruce, a long-time catalog shopper who stopped in for the first time. She bought a pair of drawstring linen pants with an embroidered leg on sale for $49.99.

“I didn’t even know [the store] was here—I heard about it at work and I was delighted,” said Bruce, who works nearby at Los Angeles County Superior Court. “I like their special clothing touches like their trims.”