KEY POINTS:
A difficult retailing environment has forced boutique menswear brand Little Brother to give up its direct retail presence.
It is shutting its two high street retail outlets, and the label will instead be sold through menswear chain Barkers' 25 stores and website.
Managing director Murray Crane said the market had become increasingly saturated for Little Brother.
"It's changed a lot in the last 10 years from what it was like when we first started - a lot more competition, both nationally and internationally. Web-based commerce has become a lot more prevalent; we're dealing with a young, predominantly male clientele that are happy to shop online. They've got no real loyalty to one particular brand, so we just found it a very crowded, difficult space to retail in, unless you're 100 per cent focused on it."
Crane will remain the creative force behind the label, which will have its own branded space in the Barkers stores.
"It's great for us - it gives us what we need. Barkers has obviously got a lot more stores than what we've got so it gives us the scale we need to let the brand continue to grow and succeed.
"We've got an incredibly successful retail brand with Crane Brothers which is growing very quickly. I wanted to be able to spend more time on that, and there's only so many hours in the day and so much money to be able to invest in new ventures and growth."
Barkers managing director Zac de Silva said the exclusive distributorship would help attract a younger market, and bring a higher end retail element to the stores.
"We're pretty much middle-market New Zealand in terms of our price range. We feel comfy that we can handle the price points and that we'll sell far more Little Brother than perhaps we've ever sold before because of our national reach."
Despite tough market conditions, de Silva said the New Zealand Barkers chain continued to grow. Store numbers had grown from 17 to 25 in the past two years, with a further two outlets - including one in Auckland's High St - opening next year.
Unlike other fashion retailers which have struck hard times, de Silva said Barkers' total sales growth was around 12 to 13 per cent, with same store growth around 5 per cent.
"It's an incredibly tough market, but I think if you're focused enough you can still succeed."
The first Little Brother collection will be available in store in April.
FASHION MERGER
* Little Brother is shutting its two retail outlets in Auckland and Wellington.
* The brand will carry on, with new ranges sold through Barkers' website and its 25 stores.
* The first collection will be available through Barkers in April.
