Walmart bases much of its appeal to shoppers on low prices for many necessities.
In the search for growth, the retail giant has gone after the grocery and club membership businesses in recent years.
But sometimes just renewing an old business line can help the cause as well.
In the 23 years that it's been around, Walmart (WMT)'s first sleepwear and intimates line has become a major source of sales. The Secret Treasures line brought in over $1 billion in 2021 and, according to estimates from NPD Group, was purchased by every fifth person shopping at the big-box retailer in the fiscal year of 2022.
Secret Treasures, which launched in 1999 at around the same time as fast fashion giant H&M (HMRZF) came to the U.S., has continued offering bottom-level prices on pajamas and underwear--a $7 nightgown, $6 panties and $16 pajama pants.
But while the brand has had no difficulty attracting buyers, Walmart has decided that time for reinvention is now. At the start of the week, the retailer unveiled its new Joyspun brand of sleepwear and intimates.
The new line features underwear, pajamas, socks and hosiery and loungewear and replaces Secret Treasures as Walmart's go-to label for those categories.
'Experience The Difference'
"We’re excited for customers to experience the difference for themselves," Denise Incandela, Walmart's executive vice president of apparel and private brands, said in a press release. "There's no better time than now to introduce this brand, with the current macro trends in the market--the transformation in the intimates industry and these inflationary times when customers are looking for a better value."
There are already over 300 Joyspun pieces in stores and on Walmart's website while the prices range from $7.98 for a sleeping shirt to $34.98 for a robe. Secret Treasures items, meanwhile, are being discounted until they sell out and are replaced by the new label.
Walmart
Incandela also stressed Joyspun's attempts to be inclusive of different body sizes--the bras range from 34A to 46DDD while underwear and sleepwear can be purchased in XS to XXXL.
While Walmart already dominates the affordable sleepwear market, both competition and demand for this section is heading up and there is serious motivation to stay current.
Lingerie brand Victoria's Secret has always posed competition but recently rival big-box retailer Target (TGT) has been expanding its underwear lines. Amazon (AMZN) also has multiple sleepwear, loungewear and intimates private labels.
Growing Demand For Sleepwear And Intimates
If that seems like a lot of options, there is good reason to believe that there will only be more. The underwear market was worth $78.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% until 2030.
Sleepwear, similarly, is expected to grow by more than $13 billion at a CAGR of 9.7% until 2027.
As a result, both major retailers and startups have been experimenting with different lines and products to see what gets picked up by buyers. In Walmart's case, it's betting on a better assortment of sizes, softer fabrics and trendy styles as part of the Joyspun rebrand.
"We're proud of the work we’ve done to rebuild and refresh our market-leading sleepwear and intimates brand in a meaningful way to make it more relevant to a broad range of customers," Incandela said. "We feel like it’s a big unlock for an extraordinarily large business within our fashion portfolio."
Last spring, Walmart also launched an activewear and swimwear line featuring running shorts, logo sweatshirts, nylon jackets, and swimsuits. The number of various athleisure lines also, according to NPD, rose from 1,600 in 2014 to 2,400 in 2021.
