Steve & Barry's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steve & Barry's | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Private equity |
| Founded | 1985 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Headquarters | Port Washington, New York |
| Key people | Steven Shore, Founder & co-CEO Barry Prevor , Founder & co-CEO |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Apparel |
| Revenue | $700 million (2005) estimated |
| Website | www.steveandbarrys.com |
Steve & Barry's is an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual apparel.
As of 2007, it operates more than 200 stores in over 30 states. The company has its headquarters in Port Washington, New York.
The chain's origins are based on various college campuses across the United States. Until 2007, it was called "Steve & Barry's University Sportswear", and the chain specialized in college-related apparel and private-label casual clothing. The chain dropped the "University Sportswear" tagline after securing licensing agreements with several celebrities to develop and distribute private-label lines of clothing designed or inspired by each of them, in an attempt to expand the chain's customer base.
Contents |
[edit] History
Founded by Steven Shore and Barry Prevor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, while Prevor was an undergraduate student, Steve & Barry's became a local popular destination due to its low prices compared to other university bookstores and gift stores. The success of the original store led to the opening of locations on several Big Ten campuses, including Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and Purdue University (the Purdue location has since closed due to a disagreement between store owners and university administrators[1]).
In 1998, Steve & Barry's opened a large mall-based store at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, Michigan and began to offer private label apparel targeted to the whole family, as opposed to their original customer base of mostly university students. The new line of products included denim, business casual, active wear, outerwear, and T-shirts. In addition, the company began marketing "All-American" brands such as Hershey's, Marvel Comics, Ford, WWE, and General Mills cereal, amongst others.[2] However, the Great Lakes Crossing store has since closed.
In 2005, Steve & Barry's purchased over 3,500,000 square feet (325,000 m²) of space in shopping centers throughout the United States, the most of any mall-based chain in the country. The result was 62 brand new supermarket-sized stores, which doubled its outlets.
In 2006, TA Associates, a $10 billion private equity firm, closed a minority investment in the company for an undisclosed amount.
[edit] Celebrity Lines
In 2006, the chain announced its partnership with New York Knicks' point guard Stephon Marbury, a joint venture in which the chain would produce Marbury's Starbury Collection, a 50-item line of discount clothing, athletic apparel, and sneakers. The centerpiece of the line is the Starbury One, a basketball sneaker that retails for $14.98. Marbury, who developed and endorsed the line, wore the sneakers during the entire 2006-2007 NBA season to prove their quality.[3] In March 2007 the company announced that then Chicago Bulls center, and 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Wallace, will endorse the Starbury brand, wearing Starburys during all his games and debuting his own Big Ben Starbury sneaker in the 2007-08 NBA season. Wallace now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers
Similarly, Sarah Jessica Parker introduced her own clothing line, BITTEN, on June 7, 2007. The brand was originally leaked to the press during an early fashion show in March of 2007. The Bitten name came from the phrase that one who becomes an actor has been "Bitten" by the acting bug. After an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the brand launched in early June, with roughly 400 pieces of apparel that is reported to grow to 500 or more by the fall.
Announced during the summer of 2007, former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes also debuted a clothing line, Dear, on August 16, 2007. Similar to the Bitten line, Dear is a women's brand that appeals mostly to younger women.
Steve & Barry's signed tennis star Venus Williams to market her own clothing and sneakers line called EleVen.[4]
American golfer Bubba Watson has his own clothing line called "Bubba Golf".
On May 15, 2008 the company debuted Laird Hamilton's "Wonderwall" collection. The collection features men's clothing for surfing and skating.
[edit] Business model
The company claims that its prices undercut all competitors, including national chains like Wal-Mart and Target, with most items within the store priced around $8.98. Shore and Prevor have discussed their methods for keeping prices down.[5] [6]
Steve & Barry's business model is to keep prices low by not advertising through traditional streams, relying on publicity and viral marketing to get the word out, running its company and stores very efficiently, selling in large volumes, and making modest profits on each item. It also sources apparel progressively, meaning it purchases product from a wide variety of manufacturers at different times throughout the year. The bidding between manufacturers allows the buyer to purchase at a lower per unit cost than larger retailers who frequently have standing contracts with suppliers.[7]
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Exponent - campus
- ^ Business Week article on Steve & Barry's. Available online at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_15/b3979091.htm
- ^ Starbury Website, Available online at: http://www.starbury.com/
- ^ Sneaker Cents - TIME
- ^ Business Week article on Steve and Barry's. Available online at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_15/b3979091.htm
- ^ "NY Times article on low-cost clothing at Steve & Barry's. Available online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/fashion/01STEVE.html?scp=9&sq=retail+midtown&st=nyt
- ^ Business Week article on Steve & Barry's. Available online at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_15/b3979091.htm
