Guess Branches Out With Stores for Accessories, Upscale Fashion

Aiming to continue its recent rebound, Guess Inc. is launching two retailing concepts -- an accessories store and a high-end clothing boutique.

In the next 18 months, the Los Angeles-based manufacturer best known for its designer jeans will open 11 Marciano boutiques and three Guess accessories shops. L.A. locations for both concepts will open at the Grove in the Fairfax district in September, Chief Operating Officer Carlos Alberini said Wednesday.

Marciano will feature upscale fashions from the company’s existing Guess Collection line, which will be renamed for Guess’ founding brothers, Paul and Maurice Marciano. Jeans at the boutiques will sell for as much as $198, compared with up to $128 in traditional Guess stores.

“That type of product deserves to be under a different brand,” said Alberini, who described the retailer’s plans at an industry conference in Boston.

Socialite Paris Hilton will push the Marciano brand on nationwide billboards and in August fashion magazines.

“She is a very strong personality in America today, and we think it’s going to bring a lot of positive attention to our brand,” Alberini said. Over the years, models including Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell have appeared in ads for the Guess brand.

The company’s new accessories shops will sell belts, luggage, purses and other “impulse-driven” items that now compete for space in Guess stores. In 2003, accessories were about 15% of Guess’ sales, Alberini said.

Guess, which operates 150 U.S. retail stores and 67 factory outlet stores, has seen sales improve after hitting a rough patch early in the decade. In June, a tough month for many of the nation’s retailers, company sales increased 12.7% at stores open at least a year.

Guess shares fell 10 cents to $15.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.