Private-Label Boom
Sales of private-label apparel have been on the rise in recent years even as overall apparel sales have declined, according to The NPD Group Inc. The Port Washington, N.Y.–based research firm found that private-label sales have increased 5 percent in the past five years thanks to retailers’ growing practice of launching their own private brands. NPD Senior Analyst Marshal Cohen defined private brands in this way: “Private brand offers the ability to establish a personality behind the product, to give the consumer the ability to be more loyal and aware of the exclusivity factor.” NPD found that 36 percent of the apparel market is private-label and private-brand merchandise. Between April 2002 and April 2003, private-label and private-brand apparel accounted for $60 billion in sales, according to NPD. The category grew by 6 percent in the last three years among the large mass merchants, for whom annual sales of privatelabel merchandise represented 51 percent of the merchandise mix, according to NPD’s findings.
