Lacoste Home Stretches Reach

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 9/29/2008 12:00:00 AM

New York — —

New York —Expanded bath and beach products, with bath rugs as a key new category, along with enhanced merchandising are designed to broaden the distribution reach of Lacoste Home beyond its traditional retail base.

Decorative pillows, throws, beach, tennis, and golf towels, coordinated bath rugs that are a new category, and a wide range of solid color and color-banded towels are part of this approach, said Jerry Haggerty, national sales manager.

Packaging and merchandising will play a key role in the new approach in these categories, he commented. As an example, he explained, key items like the golf towels at $20 or tennis towels will now be packaged in new gift or single item containers for sale in pro shops, resorts and country clubs. A new beach blanket that is designed as a “blanket for two” at 72-inch square also will be part of the new thrust at $199. Beach towels range from the opening price point of $20 to $40.

The company at market launched coordinated bath rugs, tufted with a narrow stripe and the iconic crocodile logo. The rugs range from 24-inch squares to 24-by-47, Haggerty explained.

Adding to its towel program, six new colors are in the collection, bringing the total to 16 including black, prune, lilac, vintage rose, plum and herbus.

The company debuted four new beds in its Club range of upper end styles with Alligator, a uniquely named pattern in a faux crocodile jacquard one of the collection. Alligator is mated with a new chunky throw of cotton/acrylic woven in Peru that appears in a number of the company's new beds.

Also in this group is Chiberta, a yarn dyed seersucker duvet with a blue sheet sporting an embroidered motif and a quilt.

Plum/lilac and Nile/tendril are new colors in the sheet program.

In the Casual Collection, Module is a pieced color block design, Rivage is a horizontal yarn dyed stripe, and Ottello is a graphic contemporary drawing in chili pepper and white with an awning stripe pillow.

Interestingly, Haggerty noted that many of the bedding sales at retail for Casual do not include a bedskirt.

The Club bedding is $250 for the full/queen; Casual is $180 for the same size.