Ralph Lauren to Open 250 Retail Stores

Ralph Lauren is planning to open 250 retail stores over the next three years, as it shifts from department stores to its own brand outlets.

At a presentation on the apparel firm’s investor day this week, CEO Patrice Louvet said the strategic growth plan addresses current sales patterns in which a majority of the company’s business is coming from its direct-to-consumers channels.

Louvet told investors that Ralph Lauren has exited two-thirds of the department stores that were carrying its brand, reducing the company’s “off-price exposure” by 50%.

Direct-to-consumer business now accounts for 63% of the apparel maker’s total revenue, with 26% attributed to e-commerce.

“One of the most important transformations we have undertaken over the past four years is taking direct ownership of the consumer experience, offering an elevated Ralph Lauren experience wherever consumers meet our brand,” Louvet said in his investor day presentation.

“Our ecosystem model fully integrates the physical and the digital has a significant opportunity to scale,” he said, according to a report in retailTouchPoints.

Ralph Lauren has identified 14 US markets it is targeting for expansion, areas the company said represent two-thirds of its target premium markets, including San Francisco, Seattle and Denver.

The growth strategy aims to position the company as a leader of the luxury lifestyle category.  Louvet said the company wants to dispel the notion that Ralph Lauren is a wholesaler.

The company also said the expansion is needed because the Ralph Lauren brand has “significantly underpenetrated” several US markets.

Founded by fashion icon Ralph Lauren in 1967 and built around golfing attire adorned with the company’s polo-player logo, NYC-based Ralph Lauren currently has 500 retail outlets and a flagship store on Madison Ave.

In recent years, the company’s Chaps clothing line has been sold at discount chains including TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less.

In May 2021, the company moved to tilt its sales balance back in the direction of high-end luxury by selling its Club Monaco brand to private equity firm Regent LP as part of a Next Great Chapter strategic realignment plant Ralph Lauren initiated last year.

Ralph Lauren reported a 26% increase in revenue in its second quarter earnings report, with average unit retail growing by 14%, which the company attributed to its strategy of continued brand elevation and strong “full-priced selling trends.”