US retailers step up marketing to hawk denim

Chicago, Aug 15: To tempt back-to-school shoppers into buying yet another pair of blue jeans, U.S. retailers are turning to gimmicks like free movies and music downloads.

Clothing chains have all but accepted that they will be hard-pressed to top last year's stellar denim sales, when hot trends such as embroidered and ripped jeans were the must-have look for teens and college students.

This year, muted styles such as darker washes and straight, skinny-leg fits may not appeal to the masses -- particularly in a country with rising rates of obesity -- so retailers are looking for ways to at least get customers in the door.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. offered customers nationwide free movie passes just to try on a pair of jeans. Gap Inc. resumed its aggressive television advertising campaign after eliminating TV ads during last year's holiday season.

''That Gap commercial,'' Nick Downs, 19, said as he began to mock the ad, smiling ear-to-ear. '''Where the jeans take shape!' It's stuck in my head. I went in the Gap to look at their jeans.'' However, looking and buying are two different things.

Gap posted disappointing July sales and lowered its profit forecast for the second quarter. The retailer is still hoping that its new line of jeans and T-shirts will boost second-half results.

Christine Chen, an analyst with Pacific Growth Equities, said American Eagle's promotion seemed to be paying off.

''I went and tried on my pair of jeans and I got my free movie ticket,'' she said.

''It was certainly very effective in generating traffic because you saw teenagers lined up to try jeans on just so they could get the movie ticket, and of course a lot of customers actually did buy the jeans.'' SELLING AN OUTFIT Last year, embellished jeans helped drive strong back-to-school sales across the apparel sector. This year, retailers need to show customers how to put together an outfit using the less flashy denim styles, said Lezley Goldbaum, editor of young contemporary and children's fashion at retail consulting service, The Tobe Report.

''It's about showing the consumer how this particular pair of jeans relates to the new (style) of the season,'' she said.

''It's really upon retailers to translate the idea of jeans into outfits and into merchandising so that the customer really does see ... what looks new with their jeans.'' Old Navy shopper Jourdan Conzelmann said with the new and old trends, retailers need to diversify their product more to appeal to different body types.

''I'm tall,'' the 26-year-old said as she browsed an Old Navy store in Chicago. ''They need to have more tall jeans. Store selection for tall jeans is awful.'' Conzelmann said she tried shopping at other stores, but the limited waist sizes and lengths caused her to go elsewhere.

''That's a big thing, finding tall jeans and a variety of sizes,'' she said, adding that the new skinny jeans are ''not for me.'' If skinny jeans don't pan out, then retailers won't keep them for long, said Janine Blain, contemporary market research analyst of The Doneger Group.

Blain said sales of skinny jeans are currently not ''horrible,'' but because middle class Americans have not completely jumped on the bandwagon, retailers should be aware and concerned about the prospect of disappointing sales.

Regardless of trends, jeans remain a back-to-school staple, but Pacific Growth's Chen said apparel chains were downplaying potential denim sales this year because they were not expecting them to be as big as last year.

Lisa Schultz, an executive vice president of Sears Holdings Corp.'s apparel design team, said denim sales are a ''critical component'' for its Kmart and Sears.

''We know it's the uniform for all kids going back to school and we are also one of the top retailers for Levi's,'' she said.

Sears Holdings has its own advertising venture that consists of free music downloads with the purchase of Levis through its newly launched college-oriented Web site.

''There's still so much innovation around denim as a fabric and jeans as an article of clothing,'' Shultz said. ''It never really goes away. There's really nothing to replace it for (students).''

Reuters