Bloomies trades up with Provence

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/26/2002 2:00:00 PM

New York — Home textiles are among the driving forces for the home furnishings promotion based on Provence that Bloomingdale's will launch in mid-September, part of the strategy to move its merchandise mix up several notches in fashion and quality.

"The look of Provence came up so much in shows in Paris and Frankfurt earlier this year," Joe Laneve, senior vp, home at Bloomingdale's related. "And Lester (Gribetz, vp, home fashion) said, 'We have so much in home textiles and furniture we could create the theme with what we have, expand on it and begin programs in tabletop, gifts and housewares.' And so we did."

For Provence, the store has created a country French shop of about 4,000 square feet on the furniture floor that will house a cross-section of home merchandise. The adjacent gift area for Provence will showcase a collection of pillows, bedding, draperies, table linens and a chaise created just for the Provence event by Traditional by Pamela Kline. The fabrics are typical Provence themes — paisleys and stripes of different scale — in khaki, red and yellow.

On the home textiles floor, Gribetz said there are three exclusive top-of-bed and three quilt designs. Table linens tie in with the expanded tabletop collections and are all jacquard designs.

The promotion breaks with a multi-page catalog in mid-September, and all stores will tie-in with the event.