Calvin Klein Inc. plans to launch one of its first five branded specialty stores at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.
The 10,000-square-foot store, expected to open by November, will feature the company’s white-label line. Items in the white-label line, which is a secondary line for the company that is primarily sold in department stores, include men’s and women’s sportswear, as well as jeans, shoes, suits, fragrance and underwear.
In addition to Denver, Calvin Klein will open stores at malls in Los Angeles; Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; Natick, Mass.; and Atlanta.
The store will be in a prime location in the center of the mall, said Alan Napack, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield Retail Services, who is representing Calvin Klein.
“We’re testing this concept throughout the country,” Napack said. “We’re looking for different markets to go into, not just the East and West coasts. You don’t have to be totally a fashion plate to buy or own Calvin. It’s so iconic, it cuts across all boundaries and demographics.”
Cherry Creek mall manager Nick LeMasters said the store will be a tremendous addition to the shopping center.
“To have a brand of that caliber and that strength would continue to define us as the premier shopping destination in the Rocky Mountain region,” he said. “These deals, when they’re successful, tend to differentiate us from our competition.”
As the number of department stores has dwindled over the past few years, it has become more common for brands such as Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren to open their own stores.
If the Calvin Klein venture is successful, the company could open as many as 100 of the stores nationwide.
“But it has to be right on styling, and it has to be right on price,” said consumer researcher Britt Beemer.
Beemer questioned the wisdom of opening the new stores in malls, which have 30 percent fewer shoppers than they did five years ago.
“I hate to go to a place that has a shrinking customer base,” he said. “A lifestyle center would make more sense. Lifestyle centers have just taken off and exploded. They’ve got people in them all year long, even in winter.”
The Cherry Creek store is scheduled to open shortly after Nordstrom, which is taking over the mall’s former Lord & Taylor store. The addition of Nordstrom prompted Saks Fifth Avenue to spruce up its store, which hadn’t had an update since it debuted with the mall 16 years ago.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
