Levi's® Type 1™ Jeans
Levi's® Type 1™ Jeans

LOS ANGELES, May 30, 2007/ FW/ — Topshop and Levi’s might be separated by an ocean and the North American continent, but both are planning to increase their market presence by opening new store locations.

San Francisco-based Levi’s expects to open 20 new stores in 2007, wherein seven of them are already in operation bringing a total of 45 free-standing Levi’s stores in the U.S.

On the other side of the Atlantic, London-based Topshop, who is still riding high on the success of Kate Moss’ apparel line, had announced that in Spring 2008 it would open three stand-alone stores in the U.S., including a 70,000 square feet New York flagship store.

But though both companies are moving towards the same directions, they have very different strategies in capturing and/or expanding their market share.

For Levi’s, expanding the number of their stand-alone stores is just the beginning. The company is also expanding its product lines to cater to niche markets while keeping its core.

Case in point, the ‘Curvy Bootcut’ jeans for women expected to reach store shelves this June and the ‘perfectly slimming’ jeans designed to be a girdle without actually wearing one are meant for women of all ages.

For Topshop, the expansion is geared towards overseas market. Currently, the London fast retailer has 300 shops in the U.K. and a total of 100 stores distributed across Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Its next target is North America, specifically the U.S. for now where its competitors H&M and Zara both have a big operation.

And though Topshop offers ‘affordable fashion,’ it is also capitalizing on celebrity names like Kate Moss when launching new lines in the market. In short, Topshop has positioned itself as a ‘fashion authority,’ without asking its customer base to pay for an arm and a leg for a blouse or skirt.

With fashion offerings at near parity, retailers, wholesalers even big labels and big fashion houses need to an edge to overcome the challenges of the global market arena. Levi’s and Topshop are carving their own ways to get there.

[HEIDE WINKENWERDER]