Research: Wal-Mart May Fashion A Comeback In Apparel

Wal-Mart's flirtation with more fashionable clothing seems to have scared off some women shoppers, though the worst may be over.

The retailer's share among women who choose to shop at the store "most often" for their apparel purchases fell seven percentage points in February versus February 2006, per BIGresearch, Columbus, Ohio, "That's a pretty big decline," said Joe Pilotta, vp-research. Pilotta said Macy's, J.C. Penney and Kohl's seem to have benefited.

However, retail ratings for March 2007, out last week, show the share of women indicating they shop most often at Wal-Mart for their apparel purchases increased slightly, from 15.5% to 15.8% from February to March. "There has been a lot of press given to Wal-Mart's troubles," Pilotta said. "However, Wal-Mart is still very strong and appears to have leveled off in customer losses and may be in the early stages of a comeback."

BIGresearch surveys approximately 9,000 shoppers monthly, of which 5,500 indicate they shop at Wal-Mart first for a particular category of merchandise.

Traditionally known for dowdy clothes, Wal-Mart began integrating flashy Metro 7 apparel last year and ran ads in Vogue and other fashion publications. The falloff in women shoppers may be the result.

Linda Blakley, a Wal-Mart rep, said the company wasn't trying to go upscale, but "to offer fashion at a Wal-Mart price, clothing with a universal appeal." Richard Hastings, a senior retail analyst at Smyth Bernard Sands, New York, was skeptical that Wal-Mart has stemmed the flow. "Wal-Mart will have a tough time bringing back the momentum they had years ago," he said. "Right now they are in damage control mode, not the 'get it back' mode. Store appearance is hugely important, with more investments into lighting and fixtures. They are doing some of this already, but we don't know if it is enough."