Dive Brief:
·
Belk on Tuesday announced a new in-store
sunglass concept called "Sunnies at Belk," according to a company
press release.
·
The category expansion will bring hundreds of
designer sunglasses to Belk.com and to three physical locations at Crabtree
Valley Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina; Haywood Mall in Greenville, South
Carolina; and SouthPark Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina.
·
The regional department store already carries
sunglass products from a number of brands including Coach, Michael Kors, Ralph
Lauren and Ray-Ban, and will be adding luxury designers including Prada, Gucci
and Versace.
Dive Insight:
In about six months Belk went
from announcing that it would restructure to launching an in-store luxury
sunglass concept.
In January, owner Sycamore
Partners announced that Belk would restructure under Chapter 11. Then in late
February, the 133-year-old department store filed with a lender-supported
reorganization plan that would eliminate $450 million in debt and keep its
stores open. A day after filing, the company emerged from bankruptcy with $225
million in new capital.
In a statement at the time, the
company said that it would use the infusion of cash to focus on key initiatives
for growth, including "the expansion of merchandise offerings into new,
relevant product categories."
Now it seems that delving further
into luxury accessories with the new Sunnies at Belk concept is one of those
product category initiatives. "The shop will more than double our
customers' selections and allow them to shop designer brands in a new and
innovative way through the in-store locations," Chief Merchandising
Officer Nir Patel said in a statement.
And it may be the perfect time to
focus on luxury as a product segment. According to a study released in April
from global technology research and advisory company Technavio, the personal
luxury goods market is forecast to grow by $33.5 billion from 2021 to 2025.
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