Dick’s Sporting Goods is launching its own line of men’s athletics

Dick’s Sporting Goods is entering a highly contested market for men’s sportswear with the launch of its own brand called VRST.

VRST debuts on Tuesday on Dick’s website and on an independent VRST.com, and will be launched at more than 400 Dick stores in the coming weeks, the company said. The line items, which include everything from shorts to t-shirts, zippers and hooded sweatshirts, cost between $ 30 and $ 120, which puts them in the most expensive segment of the market when it comes to price range.

After Dick’s success with its Calia line of athletics for women, the company said it saw a blank space in its stores to have a more sophisticated and lifestyle-oriented line for men. The line will not compete directly with the sweat-absorbing performance equipment sold by Under Armor and Nike. Instead, it is more similar to Lululemon.

Dick’s increased private-label investments come, however, as big brands like Nike and Under Armor have pledged to sell more goods directly to consumers. Adidas announced earlier this month that its direct-to-consumer vertical should account for 50% of net sales by 2025. Although Dick’s still carries these brands, the pivot has put more pressure on wholesale retailers to have exclusive lines, like Calia and VRST , to drive traffic and sales.

In 2020, Dick’s raised $ 1.3 billion in sales from its domestic brands. Total revenue was $ 9.58 billion. The company said that its brands surpassed national brands in the categories of golf, fitness, equipment for outdoor activities and team sports. Calia was the second best women’s clothing brand, behind Nike last year.

VRST will be the second brand launched by Dick’s with its own website. Calia was the first.

“When you see VRST, it will be a very different product range than when we have it with our main supplier partners now, and it is a blank space,” Dick Chief Executive Lauren Hobart said earlier this month during a call. of profits. “It covers a wide range of activities.”

“VRST will put us in a much stronger position to compete with similar offerings from premium apparel brands and specialty sportswear stores,” explained Hobart.

Companies like Lululemon, Nike, Adidas and Under Armor have had more momentum in the past 12 months than clothing brands focused on work clothes and more stylish items. And, in turn, more traditional clothing brands and department store chains quickly shifted their merchandise and marketing to focus on casual and comfort, creating more clamor in an already noisy category.

Before the pandemic, for example, Lululemon said he planned to double his male business in five years. Direct-to-consumer men’s athletics brands, such as Rhone, Ten Thousand and Vuori, are also doubling their online marketing spend to reach new customers. Even department store retailers Nordstrom and Kohl’s have renewed their focus on sportswear in an attempt to increase sales. Kohl’s efforts include an internal line called FLX, which debuted earlier this month.

At the same time, there has been a huge growth in space.

Last year, men’s activewear gained market share to account for 45% of the total men’s clothing market, compared with 39% in 2019, according to data compiled by consumer research firm NPD Group. The categories that helped boost dollars in space include sweatpants, which increased by 16% year on year, and sweatshirts, which increased by 3%, he said.

But VRST is not a rushed solution to take advantage of a pop pandemic. It has been under construction for a few years, the company said.

“And we are obviously maximizing the current moment,” said Nina Barjesteh, senior vice president of product development, in an interview. “But more than anything, we continue to look to the long term and make sure that we are creating products that you want to come back to buy more of.”

Dick’s shares have risen more than 190% in the past 12 months, since the market closed on Monday. The company has a market value of US $ 7 billion.