For the last 10 years Joe’s Jeans, a US-based premium denim brand, has been known for its multitude of fits for various body types.
The brand has grown its product categories – initially offering women’s denim, it now includes men’s and children’s denim followed by collection and accessories.
Marc Crossman, CEO of Joe’s Jeans, talks about the company. He says:
“Over the last decade, Joe’s has grown into a lifestyle brand which is immediately visible upon entering our retail store environment.”
The brand operates a mix of concession, outlet and retail stores in the US and a combination of licensed stores and concessions outside of
the US.
Crossman adds: “We have 21 stores within the US, which is currently our largest, most prominent market. We currently also have one store in Europe and recently opened one in Dubai in Mirdif City Mall. We are opening a second Middle East location in Kuwait’s 360 Mall this August.
“Given how universal our product is, we believe there is a customer for our product in virtually every country. Retail stores, whether company owned or licensed, are the only way to reliably control the presentation of the brand to the consumer.”
He said the ideal location for the brand would be in a country in which it doesn’t already have a presence or meaningful pre-existing distribution – the Middle East is a perfect example.
“Opening a freestanding store in Dubai allowed us to present the brand’s entire collection from day one. Further, Dubai was our launching pad to open additional stores the Middle East. We are going to take the same approach to the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. Brazil and China are two very large markets, which we have yet to tap into. We would expect to have some form of distribution in those countries, if not retail stores, in the next 18-24 months.
“Looking out a little further, we have another five stores planned in the Middle East, including the 360 Mall store and two in Europe. Our ideal locations for growth would be New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Moscow and Sao Paulo.
"Our plan over the next few years is to expand our retail business globally at a much more rapid pace than we have in the past. In the next three years, we would like to open another 50 retail stores with a mix of two-thirds full price stores and one-third outlet stores. We believe this will allow for a successful long term retail strategy.”
For the full article, please see the September 2011 issue.
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