Nobody pushes Crate & Barrel Chief Executive Gordon Segal. He moves forward only when he is ready, even if that looks like standing still to outsiders.
Such is the case with CB2, the prototype store Segal launched more than two years ago to appeal to a younger, less well-heeled set of customers who were interested in style but unable to afford Crate & Barrel prices.
The first CB2 opened at 3757 N. Lincoln Ave. to mixed reviews. Some of the merchandise was funky and the music was hip, but a lot of the shelves were filled with the same stuff found at Crate & Barrel. And–a bad sign–the Crate & Barrel outlet next door appeared to be doing a better business than CB2.
But Segal and the CB2 team didn’t give up. They actually expanded the store into the outlet space and banished virtually all of the crossover merchandise.
Now, the refinements are getting high marks from industry experts, and CB2 is poised to become a full-fledged chain.
“Crate & Barrel finally nails it,” crows “Retail Watch,” an industry newsletter published by Chicago’s McMillan/Doolittle.
“Our recent revisit left us wonderfully surprised. CB2 has been transformed into a spectacular store,” wrote Neil Stern, Retail Watch’s editor. “It looks much more like a concept that can be grown.”
Stern gave the store high marks for sharpening its post-modern point of view with edgier products that maintain CB2’s commitment to style, color and design. And he praised the broadening of certain categories such as home office furniture.
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Crate & Barrel couldn’t agree more. “We do feel we’ve got it. All we’re doing now is looking for where to put it,” says Bette Kahn, Crate & Barrel spokeswoman.
No additional leases have been signed so far, but the negotiations are hot and heavy, she says. CB2 needs an urban setting with lots of foot traffic so areas such as Manhattan’s Soho district are high up on the list as are other areas of Chicago. Segal has said he would like to open four new CB2s in the coming year.
One of the most gratifying things about the store is how it has expanded beyond Crate & Barrel’s sizable shadow, according to Nicole Maile, one of CB2’s two product managers. Where Crate & Barrel is dominant in the kitchen and tabletop areas, CB2 has developed fortes in home storage, bath accessories and even commuter tote bags.
In fact, the tote bag category has become one of the stars at CB2. Maile says she hunts for bags with a “unisex, industrial, urban edge to them.” Currently her favorites are plastic-coated canvas bags for both men and women.
“It’s kind of a taboo category for men,” she says, “but our bags have this kind of young, professional feel, sort of `I’m street, but I’m not.'” One of her hot new finds: a $55 beach bag that has built in speakers for a CD player.
One positive sign is that the target demographic for CB2 is wider than the twentysomethings that the store was created to attract. CB2 shoppers run the gamut from 25- to 40-year-olds and that allows Maile to bring in more sophisticated, classic items.
“We’ve gotten out of things that felt a little too cheap and gimmicky. The assortment has become an aspirational experience,” she says.
We only hope the folks with the noisy beach bags don’t show up on our subway car.
Field’s finally delivers: After nearly a decade of experimenting with a maternity boutique in Marshall Field’s State Street store, Field’s is rolling out maternity shops in eight other stores around the country.
Six Field’s stores, including those in Northbrook Court and Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills, are getting Mimi Maternity shops, upscale boutiques that translate the latest fashion trends into looks for expectant moms.
Two stores, including Fox Valley Center in Aurora will be getting a less pricey version, Motherhood Maternity. Both chains are owned by Philadelphia-based Mothers Work Inc., the country’s largest retailer of maternity wear.
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