Macy’s does LIDS licensing deal

Locker Room by LIDS is the name of a new licensed team merchandise department that will appear in 200 Macy’s stores and Macys.com beginning this fall which could help the nation’s largest department store operator become more relevant to sports fans.

The agreement calls for LIDS departments to appear in 25 stores this fall with an additional 175 stores in early 2014. The emphasis on markets that are home to professional and college sports teams. Each department will contain licensed products associated with professional and collegiate teams, including those in NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NCAA. The assortment will encompass apparel and headwear for men, women and children, as well as home and novelty products such as glassware, throws and gnomes. Custom embroidery is also expected to be available in selected locations.

The size of the in-store licensed departments will vary from 500 to 1,000 square feet with plans calling for the incorporation of an interactive kiosk through which customers can place online orders that can be shipped directly to their home or another designated address.

“Through our partnership with LIDS, Macy's will be able to offer a focused assortment of team-related merchandise that is tailored to the fans who shop in each Macy's store,” said Jeff Gennette, Macy's chief merchandising officer. “This is a natural and powerful expression of our My Macy's approach to serving local customers. Moreover, with Macy's rapidly emerging omnichannel capability, we can efficiently sell and fulfill orders for customers who may be fans of teams anywhere in America, or who are buying gifts for friends and family who live elsewhere.”

The expanded product offering strengthens Macy's status as a destination for activewear and complements the retailers’ assortments in active apparel and accessories, as well as athletic footwear which is supplied to Macy's customers in partnership with Finish Line, according to Gennette.

For its part, LIDS Sports Group president Ken Kocher said the deal is an opportunity for LIDS to capture underserved markets in virtually every major sports city in the U.S.

“Combining our expertise in sports licensed merchandising with Macy's retail dominance gives us the ability to serve a much larger cross section of sports fans both in-store and online,” Kocher said.

LIDS currently operates more than 1,000 retail stores and is a division of Genesco, the specialty retailer who also operates Journeys. Macy’s operates 840 department stores.