Ann Taylor Dresses
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
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Ann Taylor Dresses
As Ann Taylor emerges from its midlife crisis, the 58-year-old women's clothing chain is counting on a makeover to pull it out of the doldrums.
Parent Ann has a plan to replace its aging fleet of large Ann Taylor stores with smaller, more contemporary outposts that make women feel as if they have walked into their dream closet. Like many retailers these days, Ann wants to boost profits by selling the same amount of merchandise in less-expensive spaces decorated to make shoppers feel at home.
The retailer recently introduced its prototype format to Chicago, opening a slimmed-down store that is half the size of its former Magnificent Mile flagship just a few steps away. Since unveiling the first prototype in 2010 in Atlanta, the chain has rolled out 52 such stores nationwide, out of about 280 full-price Ann Taylor stores.
"They had this vision of an Ann Taylor working career woman that wasn't in step with American working women," said Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a consumer shopping behavior research firm in New York. "It was boring basics in an era when people want to mix it up and accessorize."
The so-called new-concept stores have shown promising early results. The reformatted, smaller stores are ringing up more sales and generating more profit from a 30 percent to 40 percent smaller footprint, said Kay Krill, president and chief executive of Ann Inc., in an earnings conference call.
Ann Taylor Stores Inc. announced its first channel outside bricks-and-mortar retail with the launch of anntaylor.com, a site that initially targets existing customers of the upscale apparel brand.
Key features of the site at www.anntaylor.com include an ability to zoom in on products, a "wardrobing" room that allows for mix and match of outfits and an interactive wardrobe adviser.
Another key element on the site is the ability through the Quick Shop function to shop for complete ensembles or merchandise featured in mailings or national print ads. Consumers also have home page access to Ann Taylor's petites collection, which accounts for a sizeable chunk of storewide sales.
Ann Taylor usually makes beautiful women look more beautiful on go, but today it also made its listed parent company look great. The listed company under the ticker ANN reported earnings for the 4th quarter and fiscal year 2011, which ended on Jan 28, 2012. 4th quarter EPS came in at 10c against the estimated 9c, and full year EPS was $1.70, which is right on the spot against forecast. 4th quarter sales in came at $566.7M, also the same as forecast, but full year sales came in a little bit short. Investors were looking for $2.39B and it gave $2.21B.
From a shopper’s point of view, I love it when stores give discount. But for women’s specialty apparel lines like Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft, this intensely competitive promotional environment we’re in is hurting the company’s revenue and the gross margin. On the positive note, SSSG was +5.3% and after all, investors did approve the earnings and gave the stock an 8% intraday upward push.
As Ann Taylor emerges from its midlife crisis, the 58-year-old women's clothing chain is counting on a makeover to pull it out of the doldrums.
Parent Ann has a plan to replace its aging fleet of large Ann Taylor stores with smaller, more contemporary outposts that make women feel as if they have walked into their dream closet. Like many retailers these days, Ann wants to boost profits by selling the same amount of merchandise in less-expensive spaces decorated to make shoppers feel at home.
The retailer recently introduced its prototype format to Chicago, opening a slimmed-down store that is half the size of its former Magnificent Mile flagship just a few steps away. Since unveiling the first prototype in 2010 in Atlanta, the chain has rolled out 52 such stores nationwide, out of about 280 full-price Ann Taylor stores.
"They had this vision of an Ann Taylor working career woman that wasn't in step with American working women," said Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a consumer shopping behavior research firm in New York. "It was boring basics in an era when people want to mix it up and accessorize."
The so-called new-concept stores have shown promising early results. The reformatted, smaller stores are ringing up more sales and generating more profit from a 30 percent to 40 percent smaller footprint, said Kay Krill, president and chief executive of Ann Inc., in an earnings conference call.
Ann Taylor Stores Inc. announced its first channel outside bricks-and-mortar retail with the launch of anntaylor.com, a site that initially targets existing customers of the upscale apparel brand.
Key features of the site at www.anntaylor.com include an ability to zoom in on products, a "wardrobing" room that allows for mix and match of outfits and an interactive wardrobe adviser.
Another key element on the site is the ability through the Quick Shop function to shop for complete ensembles or merchandise featured in mailings or national print ads. Consumers also have home page access to Ann Taylor's petites collection, which accounts for a sizeable chunk of storewide sales.
Ann Taylor usually makes beautiful women look more beautiful on go, but today it also made its listed parent company look great. The listed company under the ticker ANN reported earnings for the 4th quarter and fiscal year 2011, which ended on Jan 28, 2012. 4th quarter EPS came in at 10c against the estimated 9c, and full year EPS was $1.70, which is right on the spot against forecast. 4th quarter sales in came at $566.7M, also the same as forecast, but full year sales came in a little bit short. Investors were looking for $2.39B and it gave $2.21B.
From a shopper’s point of view, I love it when stores give discount. But for women’s specialty apparel lines like Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft, this intensely competitive promotional environment we’re in is hurting the company’s revenue and the gross margin. On the positive note, SSSG was +5.3% and after all, investors did approve the earnings and gave the stock an 8% intraday upward push.
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