Kmart begins Martha Pima cotton program

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 3/13/2001 11:07:00 AM

TROY, MI — Kmart launched its Martha Stewart Everyday Pima cotton home textiles program last week with a major promotional effort using its Sunday circular and TV advertising.

"The Pimas are starting off great," said Steve Ryman, senior vp, home "with nearly double-digit increases for the linear footage they occupy."

The Pima program also kicks off the second step of the renaming of the

Martha Stewart Everyday levels of quality with this new top-of-the-line merchandise now called 5-Star rather than the earlier "Silver" label, said Ryman.

The mid-range "White" label also has been dropped in favor of the 4- Star label and in September the opening price point "Blue" label will be renamed 3-Star.

The 5-Star collection includes the new Pima program in sheets and towels as well as the Egyptian cotton textiles that originally were introduced in fall '97 as well as cotton sateen, Ryman explained.

The new branding is being done "to bring a new approach, to be exciting and to be more clear in our definitions of good, better, best — and more important to more easily show how the merchandise works together," Ryman explained.

The 250-count Pima cotton sheets are $7.99 twin. The extra size 36" by 56" bath towel is $9.99 with the conventional bath at $7.99. Top-of-the-bed styles include a jacquard bedspread and a lattice chenille bedspread, each $29.99 twin and a matelasse coverlet also at $29.99 twin.

Also new in the 5-Star program are 230-count cotton sateen sheets, $9.99 twin.

The Pima cotton sheets are offered in a tight color selection, four colors compared with the 21 colors in the "Blue" label, Ryman said.