Word: sprenger
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...main line in everything but price. "We want the customer to know it's authentic," says Adams, who joined Target in 1983 as an assistant buyer and was promoted to senior vice president of softlines six years ago. Authentic, relevant and fun are her buzzwords. Not surprisingly, they are Sprenger...
...recent runaway hit in the home realm was Isaac Mizrahi's collection of bedding festooned with large Pop-art poppies. "We thought it would be good?but it was great," says Sprenger, who joined the company in 1985 and became senior vice president of hardlines five years ago. She was instrumental in welcoming interior designers Thomas O'Brien and Victoria Hagan to the fold. O'Brien's lighting designs have resonated most brightly with customers, and you don't need to be Thomas Edison to work out why. A handsome desk lamp at Aero, O'Brien's high-end SoHo...
...shoppers. If Karl Lagerfeld endorses H&M, the label shame is pretty much gone from any mass-market brand that has smarts. Target has long proved adept at assembling a dream team of cohorts from various disciplines. "Sometimes it's just in and out for one season," says Sprenger, when asked about the store's less triumphant partnerships. Philippe Starck's line was something of a storm in a kooky teacup. In contrast, the architect Michael Graves signed on nine years ago and is still going strong. Next up from Mizrahi: a budget-priced bridal collection...
...success of these numerous forays depends on an elaborate support system. Target takes care of the heavy lifting?fabric sourcing, sample production, marketing?and allows the rotating design stars to focus on what they do best. Adams and Sprenger oversee a swat team of merchants and marketers. Volume helps keep costs down. "We have so much buying power that it drops fabric prices dramatically," says Adams, explaining why a cropped suede jacket by Proenza Schouler for Target sells for $139.99 while a jacket from its own line is likely to be 10 times as much. Or why an elegant beaded...
Adams and Sprenger share an intuitive ability to foresee how a garment or object will best play for the store. They know their customers?or "guests," as they quaintly refer to them?better than anyone. The designers they partner with, themselves unassailable control freaks and not always familiar with the vagaries of large-scale production, are inclined to see their point. "It's like a whole new world to figure out," admits McCollough. "Target interested me because they are more mass market than my company," says Sarafpour. Exposure in 1,494 stores, as well as royalties, doesn't hurt either...