Buckle Company Merchandise Report - Apparel Buying
Basic Information
#1
• Buckle is a specialty store
• The store image specializes in casual fashions; earthy, rocker, and edgy bohemian styles including:
a. Blacks, whites, greys , purples and blues
b. Chain, stud, and stone adornments
c. Intricate designs
d. lace and embroideries #2
• Buckle Inc. was founded in 1948. It was formerly known as Mills Clothing Inc. and changed its name to Buckle in April of 1991. The company’s annual sales for 2010 total $898.3 million and are up 3% from last year. The store carries their own private label – BKE, along with a wide variety of other brands - these labels include Affliction, Hurley, Element, Roxy, Obey, Roar, Miss Me, Day Trip, Rock Revival, Big Star, and Sinful. Buckle Inc headquarters is located in Kearney, Nebraska and as of March 23, 2010 it operates 408 stores in 41 states.
Target Customer
#3
• Buckle targets customers which include young men and women between the ages of 12 and 24. The store engages in provide mid to higher- priced apparel products to customers that fit that class of income. According to Buckle.com “By department/class, last year our business was about 47 percent guys and 53 percent gals. By offering both guys and gals merchandise we have unique opportunities for merchandising and we gain flexibility in adapting to changing trends in fashion.” The merchandise reflects the age range description as well as price. Buckle products are casual and stylish to young men and women. The prices would be classified as medium to expensive, meaning that the income targets middle (especially higher middle class) to higher class incomes. The styles are accurate to both high school and young adult trends – according to the store manager Buckle caters to “every shape and size” and specialize in hard to find sizes. Buckle’s price points may suggest that although their target customer is typically a young adult, their parents may be the ones actually making the purchases.
Chino
#1
• Buckle is a specialty store
• The store image specializes in casual fashions; earthy, rocker, and edgy bohemian styles including:
a. Blacks, whites, greys , purples and blues
b. Chain, stud, and stone adornments
c. Intricate designs
d. lace and embroideries #2
• Buckle Inc. was founded in 1948. It was formerly known as Mills Clothing Inc. and changed its name to Buckle in April of 1991. The company’s annual sales for 2010 total $898.3 million and are up 3% from last year. The store carries their own private label – BKE, along with a wide variety of other brands - these labels include Affliction, Hurley, Element, Roxy, Obey, Roar, Miss Me, Day Trip, Rock Revival, Big Star, and Sinful. Buckle Inc headquarters is located in Kearney, Nebraska and as of March 23, 2010 it operates 408 stores in 41 states.
Target Customer
#3
• Buckle targets customers which include young men and women between the ages of 12 and 24. The store engages in provide mid to higher- priced apparel products to customers that fit that class of income. According to Buckle.com “By department/class, last year our business was about 47 percent guys and 53 percent gals. By offering both guys and gals merchandise we have unique opportunities for merchandising and we gain flexibility in adapting to changing trends in fashion.” The merchandise reflects the age range description as well as price. Buckle products are casual and stylish to young men and women. The prices would be classified as medium to expensive, meaning that the income targets middle (especially higher middle class) to higher class incomes. The styles are accurate to both high school and young adult trends – according to the store manager Buckle caters to “every shape and size” and specialize in hard to find sizes. Buckle’s price points may suggest that although their target customer is typically a young adult, their parents may be the ones actually making the purchases.
Chino
Cited: United States census bureau. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/