Kate Daniels Calls All Men
Is there gold in owning menswear boutiques? Eva Cox is going to find out. On Feb. 14, the owner of the Kate Daniels women’s boutique in Seal Beach, Calif., will open her first men’s boutique on Long Beach’s bustling shopping district of Second Avenue.
Cox spent the past five years selling premium denim for women at the Kate Daniels boutique on Seal Beach’s Main Street. The contemporary store is named after her children, Kate and Daniel. At Kate Daniels for Men, she will sell premium denim with some urban flair for the guys.
The 2,100-square-foot boutique is scheduled to sell premium T-shirts, jeans from brands such as Rock & Republic and Citizens of Humanity, and—as the store’s most formal offering—blazers. Price points will range from $25 to $2,000, and Cox plans for men living beyond the Long Beach city limits to get the message about her boutique.
She forecast that she could open at least five Kate Daniels for Men in the next two years. She said that the 2006 debuts of men’s stores by Robertson Boulevard merchants Lisa Kline and Kitson showed her that the field of men’s fashions is making strides.
And while the market for men’s contemporary clothing is growing, it’s still dwarfed by the women’s market, said Janine Blain, West Coast director of The Doneger Group, a New York–based consulting business to the fashion and retail industry. “Men’s retail sales are never what women’s will be,” Blain said. “We buy much, much more product.”
According to The NPD Group Inc., a market-research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y., men’s interest in fashion has been increasing. NPD charted the demand for men’s tailored clothing, which skyrocketed in 2005 but slightly declined in 2006. Men aged 18 to 24 bought 37.4 percent more tailored clothing in 2005 compared to 2004. However, the demand dropped 5.9 percent in 2006. Men aged 25 to 34 purchased 25.9 percent more tailored clothing in 2005 compared to 2004. However, demand declined 4.1 percent in the following year. —Andrew Asch
