Donna debuts in Bed Bath & Beyond

-- Home Textiles Today, 4/4/2008 2:32:00 PM

New York – Donna Karan Home has expanded its distribution to Bed Bath & Beyond with a DKNY assortment that currently includes a solid color quilted coverlet set, a towel and rug duo, and three duvet styles with coordinating sheet sets.

Donna Karan Home bed and bath products have been limited in distribution until now to Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, macys.com, Neiman Marcus, Donna Karan stores, Amazon, and select department stores in Australia, Mexico and Japan.

Discussing the new distribution channel for the designer, which is being sold in Bed Bath & Beyond under the DKNY brand, Patsy Pollack, president of Donna Karan Home told HTT, “Our customers understand how narrowly distributed the brand is, and they are fully aware that DKNY has expanded its distribution.”

Currently on the Bed Bath floor as seen in the Upper East Side Manhattan store are DKNY Chrysanthemum quilts and coordinates, the Urban Pique towel and StepOut bath rug and three fashion beds.

The change in distribution is part of the previously announced repositioning of the DKNY program, Pollack explained, to embrace not just distribution but a design approach that is younger, fresher and more modern, as well as lower pricing and streamlined putups.

Regarding pricing, Pollack explained, “We are a MSRP [manufacturer’s suggest retail price] business and this has not changed. We are a high/low business and we don’t control when retailers can be on sale or not on sale.”

Corporately, Donna Karan is developing another brand, DKNYC, on the apparel side of the business that reportedly will be exclusive to Macy’s. “It is not on the drawing board for home,” said Pollack, “but it may be.”

In home, Donna Karan New York includes Collection which is fashion-driven, and the solid color Essentials line. Pure DKNY is a separate program not sold outside Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, Pollack added.