Juicy Couture Debuts First Store
Juicy Couture will open its first retail store in October, according to Paul R. Charron, chairman and chief executive of Liz Claiborne Inc., which owns the Arleta, Calif.–based clothing company.
Charron said Juicy Couture’s first store will be located in Las Vegas’ top destination shopping center, the ancient Romanthemed The Forum Shops at Caesars.
Juicy’s co-founders and co-designers, Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, did not return calls for comment. However, retail analyst Thomas Filandro of New York–based Susquehanna Financial Group said opening a store can sharply focus consumers’ attention on a particular brand.
“Seeing a store in Las Vegas typically gives a lot more credibility in the minds of the consumer,” Filandro said. “The stores provide a very clear identity for the brand. When fashion-savvy customers travel to those destinations, they’re going to want to go to the shop and spend a lot of money, especially if what’s being sold is not as attainable as the rest of the products.”
However, Juicy’s identity must be at the forefront of many consumers’ minds. Charron stated that Liz Claiborne’s recordbreaking net sales for the first quarter of 2004 were caused in part by the company’s acquisition of Juicy Couture and New York–based Enyce, which Liz Claiborne purchased in December 2003.
Claiborne’s first-quarter net sales were $1.103 billion, up 2.5 percent over the comparable 2003 period, according to company documents. Liz Claiborne acquired Juicy Couture in April of 2003.
Company documents also revealed that Juicy Couture had sales of $47 million in 2002 and that its well-fitted terr ycloth and velour sweats and other clothes were sold in 280 department stores throughout the United States, as well as in more than 300 stores internationally, in 2003.
Juicy Couture’s success has been rooted in finding new looks for popular styles such as sweats, said Linda Hodes, a contemporary and misses buyer for Los Angeles– based Bregman & Associates.
“They made comfort clothes fashionable, and they made it cute.” Hodes said. “Their sizing is important. Juicy Couture wasn’t big and oversized. It’s body enhancing. They reached a very broad audience of young and old with their West Coast influence.”
—A.A.
