PGA Professionals and retail buyers will get their first look at the new Izod golf apparel brand in July when Tehama begins selling the Izod G line into golf shops and select retail stores.
Tehama, the apparel company founded by Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood and golf apparel veteran Nancy Haley, also will begin selling the Arnold Palmer line of golf apparel in July to select department stores. The lines will begin appearing on shelves in November.
Tehama acquired the licenses for the Izod and Palmer brands earlier this year and has been working ever since to develop infrastructures to support them. Privately-held Tehama is not obligated to reveal its financials, but sources tell PGA.com that the Lakewood, Colo.-based company last year did approximately $25 million in sales.
"Izod and Palmer add a huge amount to the pie," Haley, Tehama's president, told PGA.com. "When we took over the Izod brand in January (from apparel giant Philips Van Heusen), it was a $16 million company -- a distressed $16 million company. In the mid 1980s, (Izod) was a $60 million company. There's no reason in the world it can't be that again -- and soon. I'd say within the next three years."
Izod G is the name Haley came up with to rebuild the brand. The "G," Haley said, "can stand for anything you want. Izod Generation is what I'm looking at."
The Izod G line of tops and bottoms for men and women, Haley said, will feature garments that will retail for under $60 compared to the $65 and over for Tehama apparel.
"That's how we're going into the buyers and show them how can make money at these prices," Haley said. "We're giving them a fashion line. That's what my reputation has been built on. People understand that when I come out with a brand, there is going to be some pizzazz to it. It will be a younger look, especially for the men, and with tons of color."
The Palmer line, meanwhile, not surprisingly will be aimed at an older audience and will feature garments -- shirts, sweaters and jackets -- that generally retail for $50 and below. The men's-only line will be sold into such well-known department stores as J.C. Penney.
"It's lifestyle driven," Haley said. "Arnold Palmer looks at himself as representing the common man. He wants this to be his market."
Palmer, by the way, is a partner, along with Eastwood, in the ownership team of fabled Pebble Beach Golf Company, so the two giants of their professions are familiar with each other in the business world.
But what was unfamiliar originally, Haley said, was whether the Palmer line would be a good success. Early indications are, Haley said, the line will be a hit.
"Minimums have to be met (per the licensing agreement) but those minimums are incredibly beatable because we're finding the Arnold Palmer name and brand are quite strong," Haley said.
To help with the visibility of the Palmer line, Haley and Tehama have created a new logo, inspired she said, from a logo the King had on his plane many years ago.
"We're setting a new direction, a new image and a new sizzle for the brands," Haley said.
Copyright (c)2004 PGA.com. All rights reserved.
