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Feature Article, February 2005
A Winning Team
Steve & Barry’s, a retail chain known for collegiate apparel, scores big with mall-based locations.
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Steve & Barry’s has found great success in mall-based locations.
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Imagine a national apparel chain that carries a complete line of men’s, women’s and children’s casual apparel — all priced at $8.98 or less — and you’ve got a successful string of stores making its way across the map.
“Our prices are insanely ridiculous,” says Andy Dicker, president of Steve & Barry’s, “and the quality is fantastic.”
So how does the privately held, NewYork-based chain do it?
“We have fantastic sourcing abilities, everything is our own private label, and we buy in huge quantities,” says Dicker.
Steve & Barry’s was founded 20 years ago by CEO Barry Prevor when he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Prevor started selling Penn T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats in a little fan shop across the street from the university. When he left to work in his family’s business, he passed the torch on to childhood friend (and co-CEO) Steve Shore. In 1993, Barry rejoined the business and the partners began opening small fan shops across the street from major universities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Colorado. With approximately nine locations, the company generally sold local college-branded apparel.
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The women’s department at Steve & Barry’s.
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It wasn’t until about 6 years ago that the chain jumped into the mall business. At 25,000 square feet, the store at Great Lakes Crossing Mall in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was the company’s first mall location, which offered not only local college apparel, but also items from 100 different colleges.
“When we went into the mall business, it totally changed our outlook on the way we do business,” says Dicker. “We started opening exclusively in malls and testing the different sizes of the malls we were in. Then about 4 years ago, we started carrying non-licensed apparel — jeans, jackets, sweaters — that didn’t have university logos, and business really started taking off.”
During the last 4 years, non-licensed apparel has been the focus of Steve & Barry’s business and is where most of the company’s sales come from. Now, stores are located in malls in all kinds of areas, not just college towns. Of its nearly 70 stores, only five are on college campuses.
“The mall developers have really taken a liking to us because our prices are so low and our quality is so fantastic,” notes Dicker. “Like a Bass Pro Shop, people come from far away to shop at Steve & Barry’s. The mall developers have recognized this and want to roll us out in their portfolios because even though we’re fairly new into the mall business, we change the traffic pattern in the mall.”
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Over the last 4 years, non-licensed apparel has been the focus of Steve & Barry’s business and is where most of the company’s sales come from.
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Steve & Barry’s is an anchor-sized store, generally ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 square feet, with the average store around 50,000 square feet.
“Our design goal is to make people think they’re shopping in the most high-end store possible,” notes Dicker. “A lot of discount stores just don’t look appealing. We have a different approach. Every store has wood floors and tables, and every piece of clothing is hung on a wood hanger. Everything we do is to try to make our customers think they’re shopping in the most expensive store possible, and at the same time, give them everything for under $9.”
As of 2004, the company owned and operated 48 stores in 20 states with another 18 scheduled to open before 2005. In the future, Steve & Barry’s is looking to expand to lifestyle centers, power centers and other non-mall opportunities. The chain has locations all over the country and has recently charged into the Southeast, with new store openings in Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. This year, the company plans to open 80 or more stores.
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Steve & Barry’s plans to open at least 80 more stores during 2005.
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“The growth is really unlimited,” Dicker says. “We don’t want to over-expand beyond our means, so we’ve been taking it slowly, but we could be capable of opening up a lot more stores. We’ve been extremely lucky because customers just love us and our sales increase by a lot every year — much more than most retailers’ do.”
— Susan H. Fishman
©2005 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.
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