Tesco to relaunch Cherokee clothing brand

The redesigned collection is scheduled to arrive in store in 2012 in all major categories including men’s, women’s, kids, baby, newborn and accessories.

It will be supported by marketing campaigns in store, online and in the press.  

The US brand management company and Tesco have installed a dedicated UK team to focus on the brand within the grocer.

Tesco has worked with the brand in the UK for ten years but has put the bulk of its marketing focus on its own brand F&F range of late.

Tesco clothing director Jill Easterbrook said Tesco expects to be attracted to “classic American, casual style at very affordable prices”.

Cherokee said it will work with Tesco to take a “360 degree approach” to product design.

Tesco clothing chief executive Jason Tarry said the grocer is looking at launching the brand in its Central European markets.

Cherokee Group chief executive Henry Stupp said: “Our teams have worked diligently to reaffirm our relationship with Tesco and are very excited about the re-launch of the Cherokee brand in Tesco stores.”

Tesco UK clothing director Jill Easterbrook said: “We are delighted to be working with Cherokee again. It is a well-liked brand in the UK and familiar to Tesco shoppers.

“Our customers like the classic American, casual style at very affordable prices. I look forward to launching the new collection for autumn/winter later this year.”

Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said: “We will be interested to see how Cherokee fits in with Tesco’s main apparel brand Florence & Fred, not least because we felt F+F was rolled out to replace the likes of Cherokee. Perhaps Tesco UK is looking to increase sub-brand segmentation into its clothing offer again after exploring a holistic F+F brand, with Cherokee covering the casual end of the clothing range?”

Black said Tesco has “not punched effectively” in the supermarket clothing sector against Asda’s George and Sainsbury’s TU brands. He claims F&F has “pretty fundamentally lacked authority”.