Harrington Collection: Sizing up Active-Wear Market

Harrington Collection: Sizing Up Active-Wear Market

The Harrington Collection is looking to branch out into the Active-Wear segment of the U.S. Women’s Apparel Industry. This would be an attempt to diversify their product line as Harrington is known for high-end women’s apparel and expanding into a casual attire line like Active-Wear would reach a whole new market of buyers. However, there is a risk that by expanding into a clothing segment that Harrington has no prior experience in could potentially become a ‘deworsification’ for Harrington and if they were unable to be competitive in quality and pricing or they were not accepted by the market as a viable provider of affordable clothing, that could cause them to take losses on accumulated inventory that they could not sell, additional plants, and losses on additional costs of labor among other potential losses. Another factor is the direction of the U.S Women’s Apparel Industry. Consumers now are leaning towards inexpensive clothing, often taking advantage of on sale merchandise. As a retailer of high-end clothing, Harrington is on the losing end of this trend, so coming out with a less expensive line could help them to retain and grow a market share that would otherwise shrink. Another consideration of this new line would be the effect on profit margins. As a retailer of high-end merchandise, Harrington is used to a high-profit margin that would drop considerably with the introduction of a less expensive, lower margin, product line. Depending if Harrington’s corporate structure would be able to operate on thin margins, Harrington may have to make some adjustments and cut costs in order to be able to afford to offer a low-margin, less expensive clothing line. Another implication is that a less expensive clothing line for Harrington could potentially hurt the company image. Harrington has targeted affluent, fashionable, college-educated, professional women in the 25-60 age demographic. In an attempt to reach this demographic, Harrington has branded itself as an elegant, high-end clothing line. It is a status symbol. If they open a less expensive line that everyone can afford, this may hurt the brand image and alienate Harrington from the affluent customer base they have built up. This customer that sees Harrington as a status symbol may not longer view them as such if the clothing they purchase from the store is no longer unique and considered reserved for only the most successful.

Harrington’s competitors in the market may not view the new addition to the Vigor brand as a threat. Harrington is late to join the active-wear product line. While entering the market late can be sometimes profitable, as the company can determine what is successful, the clothing industry demand is constantly changing. Consumer demand changes on the trends of the fashion industry and pop culture, varying from season to season. Active-wear is not a new line of clothing, but is becoming a more fashionable trend that may just as easily go back out of style as easily as it came in. Since Harrington has never had experience in the active-wear line, and has not branded itself to, competitors would view this as a late mover that may lose out on profitability and not consider a threat.   Traders may also view this as a potentially weak move.  The clothing line brands that Harrington Collection has established do not contain the status of an active-wear consumer, specifically the Vigor which Harrington is looking to place into.   Vigor falls under the “trend setter” tagline, however, is devoted to career driven individuals.   Active-wear and career wear usually are contradictive no matter the level of profession.   The decision Harrington has made to incorporate the active wear into the Vigor brand is risky.   A decision to establish a new brand and collectively attract all of the brands consumers may be a less risky move.   Someone who has established themselves with the Limited brand of “sophisticated elegance” may not find Vigor to be their preference and may make the determination that the Vigor active-wear is not their style.   Creating the new brand, although a risk in itself, would allow Harrington to recreate the image for all of their clothing lines that their active-wear line is a “one size fits all” consumer target.   Every one may not be active, but everyone can be seen being comfortable in active wear from the “sophisticated” to the “status seekers” or “trend setters.”   The risk of containing the target market within the Vigor brand is higher than establishing a new overall-appealling brand.