Not to be outdone by Target’s new collection from Shaun White, Laird Hamilton’s with Steve and Berry’s, nor Wal-Mart distributing OP, Kmart has announced a sort of soft launch of their new action sports inspired collection called “Boarding” to be released in 100 “strategically located” stores this summer (and a possible roll-out to another 1,400 later in the year). While the name is obviously boring, what’s interesting is that the Boarding logo looks like a mash-up between Quiksilver and Rip Curl.
According to a recent article in DNR which scooped on this story, Scott Deutsch, president of Orange Clothing, the designers behind the brand (who also work with other big box retailers such as Macy’s, JCPenny, and Wal-Mart), said that the brand is on the right trend, “but affordable. Our focus is to offer the same quality and look as a Quiksilver or Volcom, but be half the price.” Prices for Boarding range between $12.99 to $22.99.
This should make parents happy. And for Kmart, that’s there best bet. According to Label Networks’ new data from the Spring Youth Culture Study 2008, Kmart is hardly within the top “shopping destinations” by 13-25-year-olds, however, parents, looking for something cool, may just consider Boarding, a decent option since that’s who’s buying clothing there mostly anyway.
Obviously, the action sports industry is hating on this move by Kmart, but it’s not that unexpected. As big-box moves into action sports-inpsired apparel, other stores have already moved on into new genres and crossover styles as seen with fresh data out of Label Networks. H&M, American Apparel, Uniqlo—from the big-retailers world--and top boutiques and online retailers, are already onto to the next great movement in fashion. In the traditional sense, action sports-inspired styles are not considered as cool by today’s new generation of 13-25-year-olds, as their predessors thought. Which means for Boarding, sure they’ll capture marketshare (mostly parents shopping for kids), but the real trends have already moved on. Knowing what’s up in this next movement is what real savvy businesses need to get their heads around.
