Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201060232
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID DISHNEAU ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
OUTFITTING THE HOME
Eddie Bauer is moving indoors.After years of successfully selling jackets, sweaters and outdoor goods in stores and catalogs, the retailer isn't resting on its down-filled laurels. It now wants to feather its customers' nests with furniture.
The expansion of the Eddie Bauer label into new product lines recalls similar steps by other companies: Kodak's entry into batteries, Gillete's foray into disposable cigarette lighters and Bic's move into lighters and disposable razors.
Will consumers buy it?
Eddie Bauer's research says yes. Business history says it's a gamble.
"The key to brand extendability is the perceived benefit of the brand by consumers," said Thomas Kusczmarski, a new-products consultant who heads his own marketing firm in Chicago.
"If their store was full of very expensive English Tudor furniture, it would fail," he said. "If you walk into the store and see furniture with an outdoor, country type of theme, my guess is that consumers will see that as being extendable."
The Eddie Bauer Home Collection ranges from a bed with log posts to contemporary wooden pieces fit for an urban loft.
The company is testing furniture and housewares at stores in Chicago, St. Louis and Santa Barbara, Calif.
The new merchandise, which also has been sold through catalogs, represents a subtle translation of the rugged Eddie Bauer image, said spokesman Rob Longendyke of Spiegel Inc., which bought Redmond, Wash.-based Eddie Bauer from General Mills Inc. in 1988.
"Eddie Bauer is a mystique," Longendyke said. "What they've tried to do is translate in a general sense what Eddie Bauer means."
Davia Kimmey, Eddie Bauer's vice president for marketing, said the company undertook a survey to see if consumers would buy furniture from Eddie Bauer.
She said it found "the Eddie Bauer name was very credible in home furnishings."
Other companies have successfully extended their labels because consumers associate the new products with the old: Kodak batteries can be used in cameras, just like Kodak film; Nike athletic wear is a logical match for Nike shoes; Black & Decker small appliances are power tools for the kitchen.
Product consultant Kusczmarski said it's possible for companies "to get some real leverage" with product expansions. But he warned, "Your brand name cannot pull every type of product along."
Fashion apparel is less of a stretch for Eddie Bauer than furniture. Sales from the All Week Long catalog have increased to 12 percent of Eddie Bauer's total sales from 2 percent at its launch in 1988, said Sharon Rappaport, an analyst who follows Spiegel for Morgan Stanley & Co.
She said Eddie Bauer sees better growth potential in its home furnishings, which first appeared in catalogs in February.
"They feel there's room for what they're doing and they're getting a very positive response," Rappaport said. "It's something that could be very successful for them."
Eddie Bauer plans to open more stores with Home Collection, but the company gave no timetable for the rollouts. It recently opened its first store in midtown Manhattan and has another planned in the borough early next year.
Rappaport projected Eddie Bauer's 1991 sales from catalogs and retail outlets at $767 million, up 20 percent from her estimate of $637 million in 1990.