Where is Ald. Burton Natarus when you need him? The protector of public propriety among Magnificent Mile retailers should be aghast at a display of T-shirts in the window of the Express store at 676 N. Michigan Ave.
How’s this for bad taste: three female mannequins donning T-shirts with arrows pointing at their denim-clad crotches. One says “stone bleach.” The second says “sandblast.” The third says “darkstone.”
In front of each mannequin there is a poster of a topless woman with her hands covering her breasts. The purported purpose of this display is to advertise Express’ private-label line of denim called “bleus.”
With such vulgar merchandise displays, it’s not hard to figure why Express is one of the trouble spots at its parent company, The Limited. What is hard to surmise is why Express executives haven’t figured out what they’re doing wrong.
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Adding color: Sears, Roebuck and Co. Chairman Arthur Martinez knows how important the African-American community is to Sears’ turnaround saga. Sears stores with significant numbers of black shoppers generated $4.1 billion in sales last year, 10 percent of the total, for the Hoffman Estates-based retailer.
African-American shoppers also are more loyal, spending 45 percent more in Sears than the general population. They drop one-third more on personal-care items than the average shopper, and their purchases of computers have doubled every year since 1993.
Martinez acknowledged those contributions this week as he chaired the National Urban League’s conference in Philadelphia, giving the keynote speech and participating in a panel discussion on corporate diversity.
He also put his company’s money where its mouth is, making a $1 million donation to the Urban League’s youth programs.
All important symbolic gestures. But Martinez didn’t forget he is in the business of selling. Sears turned the gathering of black professionals into a retailing spectacle.
Sears hosted fashion shows by African-American designers Anthony Mark Hankins, whose line is available at Sears, and Alvin Bell, who designs the Mosaic line exclusively for Sears. Other fashion shows featured Sears’ offerings of shoes, casual wear and career wear.
The outreach strategy already is bearing fruit. New Jersey school administrator Claudia Cream never bought her clothes at Sears before. But after she saw Sears’ new, trendier ethnic offerings, she has changed her mind.
“I was impressed. I was buying all of Anthony Mark Hankins clothes before he was in Sears. I wear them every day, and I receive compliments every day,” Cream told us. “It was a refreshing change from what we know of Sears.”
Pro shoppers wanted: August is much too early to think about Christmas shopping, but MasterCard International wants you to anyway.
The giant credit card issuer is looking for your most creative winter shopping tips, including innovative ways to budget. The savvy shopper who submits the winning entry, as judged by a panel of consumer shopping experts, will win a $10,000 credit on a MasterCard.
Consumers must submit their original shopping tips or budgeting ideas, limit 10 per entry, on a letter-size piece of paper to: MasterCard Winter Holiday Super Shopper Contest, 225 W. 34th St., Suite 610, New York, NY 10122. Entries must be postmarked no later than Aug. 15.
Here’s a hint: A suggestion to run up big credit card bills and then declare personal bankruptcy probably won’t be a winner.