One Day You’re In & the Next Day You’re Out!

Articles
July 11, 2017

Famous words on fashion by Heidi Klum - Lidl’s secret weapon in the lifestyle concept.

Heidi Klum is one of the fashion world’s most recognizable personalities not only for her successful modeling career, but mostly for her role as host of Project Runway working with other fashion designers and editors on critiquing and grooming new talent in the world of design. She is also known for her higher end line of intimates found in stores like Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. But now, the German fashion icon’s line of clothing will soon be available just adjacent to the aisles of cereal, mustard and potato chips in Lidl stores opening in the US. 

To some this may make shopping for clothes sound less than sexy, but there are so many modern shopping behaviors at play here to consider. Starting with the fact that foodie-ism combined with social media in America has become much more of a lifestyle concept entrenched in popular culture and trends, and often times food and fashion go together (Think Gwyneth Paltrow!). 

But even more important, we’ve seen this concept work already. Target, for example, has evolved smartly with clothing to home goods to grocery that includes fresh produce, organic foods, and affordable premium private label lines. In other words, it wouldn’t be strange to see in one of these stores a cart filled with things like a swimsuit, a trendy summer hat, some midcentury modern home decorations, a pair of shoes, oh…and quinoa, avocados, sparkling water, and organic eggs. 

And beyond the fact that food and fashion are paired in this concept, we might also remember two great examples from the retail playbook of Kmart, who took fashion designer, model, and Charlie’s Angels star, Jaclyn Smith, and brought her style into a more budget-friendly arena along with lifestyle icon Martha Stewart with her home goods. Or how about Costco stores, where you could sometimes buy clothing like luxury line Joe’s Jeans, and grab some premium steaks on the same shopping trip.

Shoppers of Whole Foods know that while the food selection and feel of the stores has historically “runneth over” with status, the clothes, accessories and beauty products in their Whole Body stores have them same feel. Perhaps Klum and Lidl will however have a much more attainable price point for a wider demographic, and that could be the key. 

As Lidl and other supermarket chains bet on scoring those customers that want quality but can’t quite make the “Whole Paycheck,” and as Amazon acquires Whole Foods and continues to pair delivery and convenience with shopping, like Prime Wardrobe, it will be interesting to see how stores respond to the social movement into lifestyle concepts that marry food, fashion, health and entertainment.