Top > Business > 2007 > January > 2007-01-01

The resurrection of the department store

After discount retailers and quick-fix fashion labels like Target, Wal-Mart or H&M have been continuously nibbling away at mid-priced department store?s market shares, networks like J.C. Penney Co. and Kohl?s Corp. are determined to fight back this holiday season. While many apparel manufacturers at the lower end of the price scale are used to luring customers by providing high fashion for little money, over the last year the industry has seen many successful designers pair up with exactly these companies (who would forget Isaac Mizrahi?s stint at Target), a business-marriage that caught the imagination of exactly the customers that were traditionally drawn to department stores.

This year, the department stores are vowing to claim back their territory. Such reputed designers as Nicole Miller (for J.C. Penney) and the infamous wedding gown designer Vera Wang (Kohl?s Corporation) have been wheeled in to recapture the hearts of their core customers. And although official figures will only be complete early January, stores are reporting that customers are responding well to the new and updated collections. Especially younger shoppers are attracted by the department stores strategies, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

Analysts agree that the traditional department stores have some definite advantage over retail discounters like Kmart. After all, they offer better service, fresher fashion, and pride themselves on being able to provide a one-stop satisfactory shopping experience. J.C. Penney Chairman Myron Ullman prides himself on the wide selection that the department store has to offer: if you are getting ready to look for a shop, we have the shoes, the jewelry, the handbag, we have it all!