Neiman’s Spotlights Ski and Snowboard Wear
Neiman Marcus, seeking to fill “white space” in its assortment and cater to a more active side of the lifestyles of its affluent clientele, has launched a “Ski Getaway” assortment at seven stores and online.
The assortment includes jackets, puffers, ski pants, sweaters, boots, googles and other accessories and showcases 80 ski and snowboard brands and a total of 760 styles.
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Several of the brands are being introduced to Neiman’s for the first time, among them Cordova, Erin Snow, Fusalp and Goldbergh.
“This is a whole different lifestyle approach to fashion for us. First for this winter, we are introducing ski, and second we will take a beach vacation approach for summer,” Lana Todorovich, president and chief merchandising officer for the Neiman Marcus Group, told WWD.
“The ski category is not just about being in the mountains on the slopes. It transitions onto the streets and into everyday life,” Todorovich said.
The Ski Getaway presentation is a byproduct of what Todorovich called an “overarching strategy, basically involving listening to our customers. We use a lot of customer insights, and we’ve learned that the biggest drivers for purchasing by our customers are newness and travel.
“There is also this renewed interest in ski and snowboard that we saw emerge during the pandemic,” as people looked to escape being cooped up at home, she added.
“There is really an opportunity to address this lifestyle need and continue to strengthen relationships with customers through curation. Relationships are more important than transactions. Curation is more important than consumption.”
Styles within the Ski Getaway assortment, she added, marry function with fashion.
Ski Getaway presentations, at up to 2,500 square feet in size, have been installed at Neiman’s stores in the NorthPark Center in Dallas; Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach, California; Michigan Avenue in Chicago; Tysons Galleria in McLean, Virginia; the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey; Roosevelt Field shopping center in Garden City, New York, and the Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver. Three locations have gondolas, adding to the wintry backdrop.
Other Neiman’s stores also carry some ski and snowboard wear but not with the concentrated focus Ski Getaway approach. Distinguishing aspects of the “Ski Getaway” assortment include the variety of brands represented and the number of head-to-toe looks available all in one spot in the store.
Among the brands included in this ski and snow assortment are Fusalp, founded in 1952 in the Alps region of France; Goldbergh, which launched in 2009 and is known for blending high-fashion with sportswear design; Perfect Moment, which combines high-performance materials with updated silhouettes in bold colors; Erin Snow, founded on the belief that a woman’s ski suit should help her feel confident and empowered on the slopes; Bogner, launched in Germany in 1932 and providing suits that help skiers perform, and Cordova, which prides itself on being environmentally responsible and originated on the slopes of Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2014.
