September, 1999 Issue
Reprinted with permission by Point of Purchase Magazine. Copyright 1999
Nautica Joins The Game At Sports Retail By Jennifer Markley

In July 1998, Nautica established its NST (Nautica Sport Tech) line of "younger, more athletically inspired" apparel. The outerwear, pants, hats, t-shirts and licensed-out sneakers and accessories are designed to appeal to a target customer "probably in the 12—25 age bracket," says Adam Toorock, director of store planning and retail merchandising for NST. To distinguish NST from the slightly more mature and less athletic "active lifestyle brand" of Nautica Sportswear, the company steered NST through a different distribution channel: sports specialty chains.
NST’s vendor shop conveys the rugged, high-tech mindset of the brand’s target customer through unique, flexible wall and floor fixtures provided by Otema. Hardware, including shelves, hangbars, clip-on bars and faceouts, are interchangeable from fixture to fixture, while lifestyle graphics suggest clothing combinations to young customers.

To entice these retailers, NST had to come up with a concept that would fit in with various store designs yet remain true to the NST brand identity. They turned to Ontario-based Otema for fixturing and general shop design. "We look at the stores and the merchandise, and then we try to design an area that fits in the store while staying sporty, free and innovative," says Martin Otema, the company’s president.

Otema designed a versatile fixturing system that would fit into any floor plan since NST vendor shops range in size from 100—350 square feet. By incorporating wall units, nesting tables, four-ways and t-stands, shoe and accessory towers and a multi-function fixture, the system could be configured to fit any space, no matter the size or shape.

"The vendor shop was created to establish a destination point for the NST customer, with a signature look that conveyed the essence of the active lifestyle of the NST product," says Toorock. "At the same time, it had to be consistent with the existing environment of the stores."

"We went back and forth a number of times [to achieve the look NST wanted]," Otema says. "We had many meetings, and many fixtures were contemplated but didn’t meet the criteria. Our goal is just to create a vehicle for the merchandise," he adds.

Engineering A Unique Look
The final product captured the attitude of the NST customer with a high-tech yet rugged look. Perforated metal surfaces allow for visibility and add interest, while the smaller of the two nesting tables is surfaced with silver-grey rubber in a raised diamond pattern, like the tread on an athletic shoe. All hardware is adaptable to multiple fixtures. The shoe tower can also be adapted to become an accessory tower and can be fitted with a spinner for sunglasses and watches on the top of the fixture.

"The challenge is not to copy," says Otema. "We always want to do something new– we like to be innovative. The sorts of fixtures you see everywhere aren’t my bag at all."

Floor fixtures for the NST vendor shop include a nesting table set and a multi-function fixture. A store may choose the more flexible multi-function fixture, which can accommodate folded and hanging clothes, or the nesting tables, which afford customers a better view of the merchandise.

NST approached Champs, Finish Line, FootAction and FootLocker about the possibility of installing the shop in their stores. All four wanted to participate.

Citing a desire for "true partnership," NST split the cost of each shop with the retailer. "Both partners agree on everything," Toorock says. "We share successes, cost, etc., right down the middle. We negotiated for the space in each and every store until it was mutually agreed upon." NST ships product to retailers’ distribution centers, and the product is merchandised by store associates at the point of purchase.

"They did a nice job of helping us and working with us to make the shop cohesive with the store," says Cheryl Dempsey, visual communications manager at Finish Line. "It’s a good representation of the brand."

In addition to negotiating for space, the brand was willing to make small concessions in their color scheme to make the shop more appealing to retailers. Finish Line felt that the midnight blue fixtures wouldn’t mesh well with the stores’ color schemes, so NST agreed to change the finish to black powdercoat for the retailer. "We requested it, and they redid the package for us," Dempsey says. "It integrates well.
"Our customers are mostly males, but there is definitely crossover. There are a tremendous number of women and girls wearing the merchandise," he says.

Comprised primarily of fixturing and supported by signage, the shops attempt to convey a rugged look to appeal to the brand’s young and male target consumer. Fixtures consist of powdercoated metal in midnight blue with yellow accents and feature lightboxes for signage, lifestyle graphics and the brand’s logo, which was designed by Otema with direction from NST.

"The adaptability of the fixturing enables us to display our product properly by merchandising items that are designed to be worn together," Toorock says.

"Lifestyle graphics also help with suggestive selling in lieu of mannequins," he explains.

Adds Dempsey, "The vendor shop helps to identify the brand within the store and make the brand stand out from other vendors. This shop does a good job of that."

The NST shop rolled out in spring 1999 to 750 retail locations in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. Although the program was originally launched exclusively in the four sports specialty chains, NST is now "looking very closely at increasing that," according to Toorock, who indicates that the brand plans to add a total of approximately 5—10 percent more in-store shops during 1999.

"We have a lot of criteria [for retailers], such as the overall look of their stores [as well as their] locations," Toorock says. "We don’t want to oversaturate the market."

The company tracks sales and stock levels to analyze business performance, and Toorock says sales have increased since the launch but adds that, "It takes time to build the brand to where we’d like it to be." In this early stage, however, the company is less concerned with profit than it is with building brand recognition and identity through the shops.

"We want slow, continuous growth," he continues. "First we get it right, then we move forward."