Larger assortment in new store
could get you five outfits and the store felt “like a spotless machine whirring to a thumping club soundtrack.”
In less than a year, Joe Fresh has had success stateside with both the high and the low end of its range. A $139 wool cocoon coat with neoprene trim was snapped up by Manhattan shoppers, and the March 2012 edition of Vogue included a $39 Joe Fresh shirt alongside $250 Vera Wang sandals and a $795 Jimmy Choo clutch in a “reality-check” column.
This weekend, a Joe Fresh men’s polo shirt and a women’s silk blouse will be among the swag bag items at the Independent Spirit Awards in Hollywood, and next month, a popup store will open for three days on Melrose Avenue, a shopping district in Los Angeles, according to Womenswear Daily.
When Joe Fresh first opened in supermarkets, the average price for an item was $13, and $40 was the upper limit. At the time, Joe Mimran, creative director of the brand for Loblaw, said the constraints of price point help to focus a designer.
Mimran, the designer behind Club Monaco — he also launched Pink Tartan with his wife, Kimberley Newport-Mimran, as lead designer — still enthuses about the joys of price point. But Joe Fresh’s expansion into urban markets has given Mimran both the impetus and the leeway to produce more fashion-forward clothing. markets. So we provide some of our runway pieces and other items exclusively in our stand-alone stores.”
Prices have gone up since Joe Fresh arrived on the supermarket scene.
But Joe Fresh has also increased the quality and edginess of the clothes, says retail analyst Wendy Evans, president of Toronto-based Evans & Company Consultants Inc., who points out that most Canadian women have a few pieces of Joe Fresh in their closets.
‘You need to have a certain fashion image and a degree of quality ...’ WENDY EVANS Toronto retail analyst
“We wanted to bring Joe Fresh to more urban consumers, so we opened our first stand-alone store in downtown Vancouver on Granville Street in 2010 and it was a great success,” he says.
“Having stand-alone locations in big cities like Toronto, Vancouver and New York means that we have to ensure we are providing fashionable product that speaks to the urban fashion-savvy consumers in those
Getting prime space in New York upped the ante, she says.
“You need to have a certain fashion image and a degree of quality to maintain your brand image. But they still have some great basic pieces at very low prices.”
The partnership with JC Penney will provide the brand with a larger footprint in the U.S without the time and expense of acquiring separate stores.
The stores in JC Penney will be 1,000 to 2,500 square feet.
“In six years, we have become a well-known brand here in Canada, but we are only a year old in the U.S. market, so JCP will bring us more brand awareness and access to all Americans,” says Mimran.
“We already have Canadians living in Dallas, and many other cities, telling us they are excited to hear that Joe Fresh is coming to America.”
In Canada, retail observers say introducing stand-alone stores in cities such as Ottawa will affect the retail ecosystem for fast fashion, pitting Joe Fresh against the likes of Reitmans, Zara, Target and H&M when the latter stores finally make an appearance here. The Gap and The Bay will also feel the pressure, she predicts.
Mimran is always innovating, says Evans.
“He’s got great design sense and street sense. He’s a retailer through and through.”
The flagship store on Fifth Avenue was an investment in visibility in a prime location. The stores in JC Penney will get the brand’s name out in the suburbs, says Evans.
“He will get terrific real estate and exposure. The whole shop in shop is a great partnership. It’s a great way of doing business. But it’s also a great idea to spice up the Penney’s image and provide a draw for them.”
Canada is still Joe Fresh’s home market, says Mimran, who lives in Toronto.
“We are constantly evaluating new opportunities to open stores, but it’s really about finding that right location that is critical.”