Lacoste To Amp Up U.S. Presence With New, Innovative Retail Locations
French luxury clothing retailer Lacoste, known for its quirky crocodile logo and colorful polo shirts, has long fared well globally — particularly in Europe. Now, the company is moving to strengthen its brand in the United States with an expansion plan that includes renovating its existing high-profile locations as well as increasing the number of stores in what it has deemed key market areas such as southern California, southern Florida, and New York. And it has already begun to take action; Lacoste recently upgraded its Madison Avenue location in Manhattan, and is set to open a 3,400-square-foot store at Westfield World Trade Center on August 16th.
What exactly are some of the changes to be made to Lacoste stores? According to Magic Online, the company has an overall aim of modernizing its appearance. As a result, existing locations have been elevated with a minimalistic color palette made up of contrasting lights and darks and rebuilt with distinct materials like oak and viroc — design concepts drawn from the brand’s Rue de Sevres boutique in Paris. In addition, new retail locations will showcase never-before-seen features, including polo walls to showcase Lacoste’s signature piece, tennis court walls, video walls, footwear walls, and designated leather goods rooms.
In a recent company statement, Joelle Grunberg, president and CEO of Lacoste North America, stated that this decision to expand and upgrade “make[s] a strong statement of [Lacoste’s] brand identity.” And while updated designs and in-store features are undoubtedly a step in the right direction, it is perhaps even more crucial that Lacoste efficiently operate all of its locations in order to truly solidify a brand that will be trusted in the U.S. — particularly due to the fact that it will soon have more and larger locations to manage.
One thing that Lacoste could benefit from is autoscheduling technology — especially after stores and staff grow — in order to ensure that the right people are staffed at the right time to meet expected demand. In addition, Lacoste would fare well by gauging the effectiveness of its growth plan on a regular basis to ensure the relevance of its pursuit; collecting and analyzing data on in-store customer traffic using traffic sensors, for example, would allow the company to evaluate how much — or even whether — its new stores are boosting sales.
This is a tall order to fill — yet, if Lacoste can adeptly juggle its 1200-plus currently existing locations as well the ones soon to come, it will likely be met with success. The company has been performing relatively well, seeing as much as a 30 percent growth in sales in recent years, so it’s safe to say that a strong delivery of innovative new stores will only add to this trend — as long as Lacoste can provide an efficient and consistent shopping experience for all.
