Juniors comes of age - women's apparel, marketing efforts at mass merchants - Apparel Merchandising

Mass merchants are studying an old subject with fresh eyes. "We're going to school," says Larry Angst, vice president for women's fashion at Hills Stores.

The major: juniors.

For the first time, Hills has carved out a space on the selling floor for juniors. The chain is showing the category's fashions in a minidepartment adjacent to misses on the front aisle of the store.

Hills is not alone among mass merchants in taking this course. Regional chains such as Bradlees and Pamida already have a track record; Pamida broke out a juniors departments one year ago, and Bradlees made a similar move for the current season.
Bradlees had experimented with juniors departments previously, but went back to the traditional discount mode--incorporating juniors looks into the misses assortment--in recent years. "Our fashion-forward goods have been mixed in with, or directly adjacent to, the misses goods," says Celia Clancy, senior vice president, general merchandise manager for womenswear, who this year decided that the two classifications of product needed separate in-store merchandising to deliver a clear message to the shopper.

Now, by trying trend looks together, Bradlees is seeking to broadcast newness to the juniors customer. The chain's juniors business was planned separately from the misses buy for fall 1996, and separate departments have reappeared.

Howard Jacobs, president of Zanadi, a fashion-forward denim manufacturer believes the timing is auspicious. "Juniors is coming back with gusto. After a very rough two or three years, this Back-to-School is the best."

"Juniors has been a separate entity here for about a year. Business is very, very strong," confirms Woody Cozart, vice president, divisional merchandise manager at Pamida.