Walmart to launch 'Exsto' urban menswear line

Posted Mar 30th 2006 10:10AM by Sarah Gilbert
Filed under: Products and Services, Launches, Rants and Raves, Wal-Mart (WMT)

Walmart and fashion - will they ever go together? I, for one, can't fathom the combo. The retailer has been fighting the uphill battle of competing in a marketplace where Target is the pinnacle and even Kmart is hipper-than-them. Oh what a sad place to be. And now they'll be in that sad place with a menswear line that no one could possible pronounce. Or spell.

Really. I had to toggle four times to type Exsto. Perhaps the young urban males to whom the clothing line will be targeted won't care how it's spelled, or pronounced, and will shove it in their carts along with the CDs full of rap ... oh wait! Doesn't Walmart still refuse to carry music with explicit lyrics - the type enjoyed most by young urban males?

The strategy is questionable, but at least the company charged with producing the menswear has some street cred. G-III Apparel also produces clothing lines for Sean John, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and Guess.

Tags: exsto, g-iii, g-iii apparel, G-iiiApparel, kmart, marketing strategy, MarketingStrategy, menswear, target, urban males, UrbanMales, walmart, wmt, young urban males, YoungUrbanMales