retail

Macy's Takes An Active Interest In Workout Clothes

As Macy's marches on in its quest for Millennial domination, activewear is the latest category getting a workout.

The retailer will introduce Norwegian outdoor performance brand Helly Hansen in select locations, it announced on Monday, and will also expand its athletic apparel assortment, which includes Nike, The North Face, Under Armour, Calvin Klein Performance and Ideology.

Ideology, the exclusive Macy’s brand launched in spring 2012, will expand from 160 stores to about 400 stores. The affordable line of yoga, Pilates and gym clothes is priced from $20 to $68.

These latest moves add to an existing relationship with Finish Line and team sports experts LIDS.

Athleticwear has become an acceptable everyday clothing choice, and women’s activewear sales alone have doubled in 10 years to $14 billion, according to NPD Group. Gap has a line of sports bras and workout pants it calls GapFit and Target’s C9 by Champion line offers pants priced between $21 and $55.

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 “As we continue challenging ourselves to better serve the evolving needs of Macy’s current and future customers, it became clear that active apparel presented an opportunity for growth,” says Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chief merchandising officer. “Our customer insights show that our Millennial customers have significant crossover in shopping active where we have the [active apparel] assortment.”

Shoppers will be able to buy the activewear from any store, even those that do not stock it, using omnichannel kiosk technology uniting in-store and online experiences.

In 2012, Macy’s brought together in an open-concept office space the Millennial teams from merchandising, planning, marketing and private brands so they could work more collaboratively, creatively and quickly. In October, the retailer announced 13 new Millennial brands would come by the end of 2013 and 11 existing Millennial brands would expand.

Two new impulse brands, Maison Jules and QMack, were also introduced for this fall. Maison Jules is inspired by Parisian street style. The QMack collection from The Jones Group is a wardrobing system focusing on key “mix and mack” items and classic shapes.

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