The Ralph Lauren brand is in trouble, after fifty years, is Ralph Lauren going out of fashion? I wonder if they have made a mistake with the size of their logo on polo shirts with the rest of the fashion world moving towards smaller emblems and logos.

Born in the Bronx in New York City, Ralph did a stint in the army before becoming a sales assistant and later salesman for a tie company. Ralph began by selling ties out of a draw under the Empire State Building New York in 1967. Working out of the showroom, Ralph created the Polo range in 1968 expanding the Polo range in 1971 with the now famous Polo logo appearing for the first time. The cotton mesh polo shirt was introduced in 1972 in seventeen different colours with the polo emblem featuring on the left chest.

The flagship Madison Avenue store opened in 1983 is in trouble although plenty of Polo boutiques are still open around the world. The Ralph Lauren brand is well represented in department stores internationally and the United States. Living in Perth I can purchase from in-store boutiques of Myer and David Jones. From what I read, the Lauren range has been the mainstay of Bloomingdale’s department stores in the United States

A transformation plan is in place that revolves around rationalisation involving the closure of unproductive stores, a reduction in the workforce, improved inventory management controls and reduced production cycles. The closure of the flagship stores in the United States, Asia and Europe will allow the brand to concentrate on e-commerce although there are some reservations regarding the competencies of technology integration.

The core brands are Ralph Lauren, Polo and Lauren with 30% of the brands contributing to 70% of the sales. With up to 65% of the brands unproductive much of the advertising has diluted marketing resources and reducing focus on the core brands. Inventory is an issue with no centralised inventory management control impacting the supply chain.

Possibly they are holding onto old inventory and need to get it out the door, discounting at the end of the season hurts the brand. As such, excess inventory has led to discounting as retailers offloading inventory leading to a devaluation of the brand. Will the Ralph Lauren brand survive? I believe Ralph Lauren will survive despite the fall in share price with the new strategy requiring time to implement.