Canada’s “cheap and chic” clothing line, Joe Fresh, is now going international, starting with a test-drive in Manhattan (and then who knows? Maybe Berlin.) Loblaw President Allan Leighton confirmed Wednesday that Loblaw will test its in-house clothing brand in the competitive U.S. market by opening its first store in Manhattan this fall, the National Post reports.
Leighton made the announcement at a CIBC World Markets investor conference and webcast. He also mentioned that Loblaw executives are eyeing the U.S. with caution and will open four stores there later in 2011. “It will be very much a pilot project,” he said.
Joe Fresh was conceived for Loblaw by Joseph Mimran, also known as the mastermind behind Club Monaco. Mimran’s apparel has crossed the NYC threshold before: in 1995, he boldly rolled out a Club Monaco store on New York’s high-profile Fifth Avenue. It was later bought up by Polo Ralph Lauren in 1999.
Few Canadian apparel brands have managed to make it big in the U.S., so let’s hope that Joe Fresh can go the way of Lululemon (which now has 82 outlets there) and make some lemonade, too.
[National Post, Globe and Mail]