In an increasingly crowded and competitive fashion marketplace, it is good for retailers to be in partnership with a brand that is exclusive, reliable and consistently commercial, and that offers a healthy guaranteed margin.
Exclusive to AIS members, First Avenue is just such a womenswear brand. Part of the AIS offer for many years, it is enjoying a buoyant resurgence, having been reinvigorated over the past few seasons to make it more relevant to today’s consumer.
With three programmes created for spring-summer, the autumn-winter equivalent comprises three and a half drops, the extra one being a capsule collection for Christmas.
Most importantly, First Avenue is versatile – it’s a coordinated collection that can be bought in its entirety or it can be cherry-picked by buyers who want specific separates to fill in gaps from other suppliers.
Some AIS stores take First Avenue in depth through the group’s RBM while others treat it like any wholesale brand on their buying schedule.
Significantly, the new-look First Avenue has been developed during the past few years with the input of members via a strategy group, which advises on general market trends, specific regional requirements and what is already in, or missing from, the wider wholesale offer.
Sam Walker, partner in the Walker & Ling department store in Weston-super-Mare, north Somerset, is part of the strategy group and is a fan of First Avenue. “Our family business was founded in 1892 and we regard ourselves as the longest continuous member of AIS. For us, First Avenue is our own AIS brand, just like Tesco has F&F, Sainsbury’s has Tu and Morrisons has Nutmeg. It’s a brand that allows us to do some volume with an extra margin.
“Having it exclusively as an AIS member is part of its appeal, along with the margin. The AIS design team has created it as a lifestyle brand but we do particularly well with knitwear and trousers. It’s targeted at the classic consumer, but it does have its own handwriting.
“We devote about 600sq ft to 800sq ft to First Avenue, where it sits alongside and competes with wholesale brands like Tigi, Penny Plain, Viz and Emreco.”
At Bradbeers department store in Romsey, Hampshire, store manager Sharon Rolls, who is also buyer for womenswear, applauds the progress made with First Avenue over the past three seasons. “For me and for our customers, the appeal of First Avenue is its good price points and its good quality. It works across the age groups because it interprets and adapts fashion trends in an appropriate way. It occupies around 600sq ft on our first floor and is a good entry point to our other brands like White Stuff, Seasalt, French Connection and Masai.
“I have found it very useful to be in the strategy group. The AIS team does listen to what we tell them.”
In Northern Ireland Zoe Parkes is buyer for the 18 stores in the Menarys group, which includes department stores and fashion shops, two branches in the Irish Republic and a garden centre in Ramsgate, Kent. She is also in the First Avenue strategy group.
“We have diverse retail outlets and AIS has a diverse membership, which First Avenue attempts to cater for. We use the range for everyday basics, representing good value and good quality. Our business has gone towards separates in recent seasons and so we pick what we can’t get from other suppliers.
“Our customers recognise First Avenue as a brand and it’s good to have something exclusively in a town. If you are not an AIS member, you can’t have First Avenue.”
Fashion consultant Maxine Ismail has been working with Junior Buyer, Miah Orme, and Ciara O’Carroll, Buying Administrator, for the past two years along with the merchandising team who provide sales analysis and forecasts. In a 25-year career in fashion Maxine worked with leading high street retailers including House of Fraser, River Island, Arcadia and Jacques Vert. She points out the development of First Avenue is an ongoing story.
“The AIS membership embraces independent department stores, fashion shops and garden centres, so First Avenue must work on many levels, across several age groups. We have been mindful it has to stand up as a brand on its own and to compete with other own-label offerings from major competitors like M&S.
“The feedback from the strategy group has been invaluable. Our first relaunched collection proved to be too large and perhaps too fashion-led, so we adjusted the percentages, reduced the options and elevated the basics to fit in with what members were asking for. First Avenue now has a new strong identity that we will keep refining with every new collection. Every option is designed to serve a specific purpose for some of our members.”
The First Avenue offer includes most womenswear clothing categories from outerwear and rainwear to blouses, trousers and knitwear. From everyday basics through denims to party pieces with a touch of bling, typically there are 370 options in each seasonal collection.
The autumn-winter programmes are delivered at the end of July-August, August-September and late September. Spring-summer drops are in January-February, February-March and late March. The idea is to provide fresh options through the key selling periods to keep the customers coming back.
