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Wal-Mart not participating in February New York Fashion Week
2007-01-26
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT), the world's largest retailer, has decided not to participate in New York's upcoming Fashion Week. "We just elected not to show our collections at that venue," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Linda Blakley. New York Fashion Week is a twice-yearly event that gives the fashion industry a chance to view the latest design collections for the upcoming season. The next New York Fashion Week will kick off on February 2. Wal-Mart has been participating in the event since September 2005, when it held a fashion show in a Times Square studio that could be viewed by pedestrians. That fashion show, which followed an eight-page advertising spread in Vogue magazine, was staged as Wal-Mart tried to boost sales by luring shoppers to buy trendier clothing or home decor instead of just low-margin groceries. In September, Wal-Mart returned again to Fashion Week to show off its George ME fashion line by guest designer Mark Eisen, and its own Metro 7 clothing line. But Wal-Mart has struggled with the fashion forays, posting disappointing same-store sales results as customers shunned trendier items, like skinny-leg pants, and the retailer said it overexpanded its Metro 7 line. Blakley said that instead of participating in February's Fashion Week, earlier this month it showed its Metro 7 collection to fashion editors in New York. She said the retailer had not yet decided if it would participate in New York's September Fashion Week. "We haven't taken that decision yet," she said.
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