San Francisco-based Levi plans turnaround
The company that was synonymous with denim jeans, is looking to branch out by selling Levi jeans at a wide range of prices according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). I ran into a Levi executive this weekend over brunch and was surprised to hear that Levi doesn't have a huge number of brands in its corporate family, so this seems like a good strategy.
But Levi also wants the cachet of selling to high-end stores like Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York, where it recently began offering styles priced from $85 to $220. One of these lines, Levi Strauss Vintage, features unusual finishes and replica styles from the Levi archives....How does a less-than-$30 pair of Levi's differ from a pair selling for more than $200? Levi says: fit, fabric and branding.
...Last year, the San Francisco company's profit plunged 32% to $151 million on sales of $4.25 billion [from a high of $7.1 billion in 1996]. To fuel its turnaround, Levi needs the huge volume of mass chains, where a pair of denim pants sells for under $25. Levi also says that although more than 160 million people in the U.S. shop in mass-merchandise stores, fewer than one in 10 who shop in such stores for apparel also shop in higher-end stores, creating a huge growth opportunity.