Why Walmart Is Reviving This Defunct Fashion Brand

Samantha McDonald

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In a bid to boost its fashion business, Walmart Inc. is relaunching the once-defunct label Scoop as an in-house brand.

The once-beloved label — which shuttered more than a dozen of its stores three years ago — is making its way back to select stores and the retailer’s website as part of Walmart’s push to build up its more profitable private brands, housing collections that are priced more affordably to target its core customer.

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In a press release, the big-box chain announced that the revived Scoop line will feature more than 100 size-inclusive styles, with prices ranging from $15 for a graphic tee to $65 for a coat. The collection, which includes footwear and handbags, will hit Walmart’s website on Monday and debut in brick-and-mortar stores early next year.

“We’ve been focused on establishing Walmart as a destination for fashion — a place where our customers can discover stylish items that are accessible,” Walmart U.S. e-commerce’s head of fashion, Denise Incandela, wrote in a blog post. “Adding Scoop to our portfolio makes it that much easier for our customers to look and feel their best.”

For two decades, Scoop’s recognizable black-and-white logo was spotted on New York fashionistas and even on episodes of hit TV series “Sex and the City.” Skyrocketing rents and heavy competition led the brand to liquidate in May 2016, with Walmart acquiring the trademark that year.

Scoop’s return to business comes as the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, for the past few years, has been making a concerted push toward an expanded fashion assortment.

In early 2017, it snapped up Shoebuy (now Shoes.com) for about $70 million and outdoor apparel retailer Moosejaw for $51 million. It then made headlines for purchasing ModCloth in March 2017 for $50 million. (Walmart is reportedly in talks to sell the fashion brand.)

Menswear label Bonobos also became a part of the company in a $310 million deal that July, and in October 2018, the chain acquired plus-size brand Eloquii for $100 million. This year alone, Walmart has added 600 brands to its lineup, including exclusives from actress Sofia Vergara and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, as well as 150 premium fashion labels.

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