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Pinch Me -- Is That a Wal-Mart?
Fran Yoshioka, consultant for women's trends, is looking to the turn of the last century for fall 2006 themes.
(By Helayne Seidman For The Washington Post)
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But as Wal-Mart steps out of its comfort zone, it runs the risk of walking right past its conservative shoppers. A risqué new line of T-shirts for the teen and tween set carries sexually suggestive messages such as "My boyfriend is out of town," "Meet me after school" and the brief but provocative self-description "Easy."
"Disgusting," was the verdict from an expectant mother who checked out the shirts at a store in Bentonville recently but who refused to divulge her name, worried it would leave her unpopular in what is, she noted, "a one-company town."
While customers fret over T-shirts, the New York staff is worried Wal-Mart will falter when it comes to displaying its trendy new merchandise, putting, say, a modern-looking horizontal striped plate next to one with a grandmotherly floral pattern.
Watts called Wal-Mart's uneven product presentation a "real issue." To fix the problem, the chain has quietly hired 350 "style police" -- the official title is fashion merchandiser -- who travel from store to store teaching employees how to display trendy new products.
Don't expect the chain to sacrifice coveted shelf space for a mock living room a la Ikea, but Watts said she is experimenting with a display fixture that would showcase coordinated pillows, vases and candlesticks from its Home Trends collection.
New advertising, in print circulars, on TV commercials and at Walmart.com, will reinforce the idea of Wal-Mart as the purveyor of a lifestyle, not just a cheap set of sheets and curtains. One new TV spot, set against a fast-paced hip-hop beat, features a college freshman setting up his dorm with such metrosexual touches as a plush lime-colored stool and color-coordinated bed sheets .
The image is positively Target-esque.
In a first, Wal-Mart is reaching out to the fashion industry bible Vogue. An advertisement in an upcoming issue depicts Wal-Mart shoppers discovering style in the store, said Julie Lyle, the chain's vice president of marketing and advertising.
Back on the sixth floor of the New York Trend Office, above a rack of tunics, camisoles and jackets picked up from boutiques in Paris, London and New York, is a quote from Sam Walton, stenciled on a wall painted Wal-Mart blue.
"You can't just keep doing what works one time. Everything is changing. To succeed, stay out in front of changes."
Yoshioka looked up at it and smiled. "They're trying," she said. "They're really trying."
