Banana Republic also wants to equip your home

Responding to a volatile workwear market, the retailer hopes the sale of home goods will help stabilize its business.

In Banana Republic's design studio in San Francisco, Sandra Stangl, the company's general manager, pointed to an item that had been buzzing in stores.< /p>

There wasn't a shirt or dress draped over a mannequin. Instead, Mrs Stangl moved to a king-size bed with a parchment-colored panel. The company has started putting these bed frames, which sell for around $5,000, near the front of its stores in Los Angeles and New York. A sufficient number of buyers asked if they were for sale. The answer: Not yet, but Stangl and her team are taking a limited number of pre-orders for the fall.

Shoppers typically think of gearing up, not their house, when they enter Banana Republic. But the brand is trying to change that. In March, the retailer announced it would start selling home textiles, and since then it has rolled out items like eye-catching blankets, rugs and bed frames, selling home products online and in stores. 16 of its stores.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The home category "gives us a wider addressable audience," Ms. Stangl said, standing in front of an embroidered linen and cotton quilt, which, according to the company, is a bestseller. She added that the homeware offering is "stabilizing the business a bit."

Throughout the pandemic, the shopping environment clothing retailers took a boom-bust pattern. Shoppers stuck at home were shopping for yoga pants first, then looking for work-appropriate clothes when a full-scale return to the office seemed imminent. Today, as many people's daily lives have settled into a more hybrid situation, consumers are even more discerning about their clothing purchases.

Banana Republic was no stranger to the vagaries of the retail market. During the first quarter of the pandemic, the company's net sales fell 47%. When Ms. Stangl took on the lead role, in December 2020, the Banana Republic design team began creating clothes that were both versatile and comfortable. When it was time to head back to the office, shoppers turned to the store for attire that was both casual and professional. In the first quarter of 2022, net sales increased by 24%.

ImageSandra Stangl, the chief executive, said the expansion into the home category is "stabilizing the business a bit." hybrid work, many people were shopping for work clothes less frequently and had stopped viewing the clothes they wore to work as separate from the rest of their wardrobe. In the first quarter of this year, Banana Republic's net sales fell 10%.

Even before the pandemic, Banana Republic was facing declining sales and had struggling to attract customers without 40%. reduction. As it lost customers, it began closing stores, dropping from 566 in 2019 to just over 400 in January 2023. The same month, Banana Republic announced it would close its two-story flagship in San Francisco, where its offices are still located. It will soon open a smaller flagship store, which will sell home goods and a new art collection, available now. The retailer also began selling activewear and baby and toddler clothing. is not new. It follows a familiar playbook from other companies that have sought to portray themselves as "lifestyle brands...