It’s no secret that the Junior’s business has been tough, even for brands like Roxy, which started the entire market.
On Quiksilver’s last earnings call, though, executives said bookings for Roxy were up mid-single digits in the Americas and fall/winter orders in Europe were up in the high-single digits.
We caught up with Roxy President Susan Branch to find out why she thinks things are getting brighter for the brand.
Seems like Roxy has been on the up. How are you guys doing it?
The Roxy brand performance has significantly improved and our outlook is very positive.
This comes as a result of getting focused on our core surf heritage roots and leveraging our brand value and equity.
Our current success is also the result of designing and developing “best in class” products in categories where we know we can win as a brand, what we like to call the “go to” categories: products like swim, boardshorts, fleece, beach pants, flip flops, beach dresses and canvas bags.
What about marketing?
Our “Beach you to it” spring/summer campaign was our first ever product marketing campaign that was distributed across all platforms and channels including Roxy retail, e-commerce and catalog.
Our message was consistent and enabled us to take market share within some of the aforementioned product categories.
Was there anything else that contributed to growth? Junior’s has been tough for everyone.
To support our surf heritage story year round, we have also introduced a year-round swim assortment in limited Roxy retail and specialty stores.
So, as we look forward to fall, we anticipate continued improved performance for Roxy as we prepare to launch our “Surf Denim” product and campaign supported by an incredibly strong fleece assortment.
How are you competing with fast fashion?
While the fast fashion retail model is with us to stay and we recognize it, it is important to acknowledge its impact on the marketplace. We have chosen to keep our eyes on our own prize.
For us, that means staying on brand message and delivering on the products you have come to expect from Roxy while continuing to focus on great quality in our products, something our customers have come to expect, with a value proposition that supports our retail price points.
Our mantra is product is always first – then price. Based on our recent performance, the customer is telling us if we give her great quality product and design, price is secondary.
