Crains New York - April 22, 2013 - (Page 6)

THE INSIDER Specialty retailers are winning the underwars by Andrew J. Hawkins Department stores can’t satisfy shopper demand for sex toys with their intimates Lingerie specialty stores are getting a lift over their department-store competitors from a new trend: the rising popularity of sex toys and massage oils. Macy’s has yet to stock handcuffs and other paraphernalia alongside bras, panties and pajamas. “A lot of these [specialty] stores package these items together with lingerie, and they do really well with it,” said Luis Paredes, publisher of online trade publication Lingerie Journal, who credits the steamy Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy that hit bookstores two years ago for the current popularity of items like whips and corsets. Sales at intimates shops have soared—the category raked in $4.2 billion for the 12 months ended in February, a 5% rise over the yearearlier period, according to research firm NPD Group Inc. Many sex stores, like Journelle, a six-year-old chain that boasts three Manhattan locations, are in expansion mode. By contrast, department-store sales of undergarments are drooping. istockphoto BY ADRIANNE PASQUARELLI UPLIFTING: Sales at intimates shops have gotten a big boost in the past year. Once the go-to destination for unmentionables, the stores generated a scant $1.1 billion in intimates sales for the year ended in February, a 2% decline from the previous year, taking a toll on big manufacturers. “When women come out of a recession, they tend to gravitate toward the specialty retailers that cater to specific needs,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD. “You’re not going to go to a big, broad-based retailer for intimates; you go to an intimates store.” Victoria’s Secret, a unit of L Brands Inc., has gotten a real boost. The 1,019-store company whose TV ads feature “Angel” models Adriana Lima and Gisele Bündchen, saw its sales increase 7% last year, to $6.6 billion. Some of those sales were for body icing and intimacy love kits complete with feather body dusters. “They’ve done a great job of branding their product and making it appealing,” said Moira Nelson, an intimate-apparel industry expert. Even specialty shops, lauded for their knowledgeable sales attendants and array of unique brands,are gaining ground. Journelle, which surpassed $5 million in sales last See SPECIALTY on Page 38 Sister team ponies up to oust Quinn M eet the “Anyone but Quinn” sisters. Both are business owners: Wendy Kelman Neu is the CEO of Hugo Neu, an electronics recycling firm with almost 100 employees and facilities in Westchester and Connecticut; Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee operates Park Pictures, a Manhattan-based film and television production company that she founded 15 years ago. They are passionate about animal rights, workers’ rights and the environment. And both will do whatever it takes to sink Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s bid for mayor. They are helping to fund a negative ad campaign targeting Ms. Quinn for supporting the carriage-horse industry, extending term limits and delaying paid-sick-leave and living-wage legislation. They have poured $200,000 into the $1 million “NYC Not 4 Sale” campaign, which has aired one television commercial and has more on the way. Ms. Neu had been working with her husband, John, for months on an independent expenditure targeting Ms. Quinn when he died suddenly in March. Ms. Neu carried on with the campaign to defeat the speaker, whom many see as the only pro-business Democrat running for mayor.The effort’s other funders are businessman Steve Nislick and union leader Arthur Cheliotes. “I’ve never been involved in a mayoral race before,” said Ms. Neu, addressing the reluctance of businesspeople to speak out about elected officials. “People are very concerned. Whether it’s Christine Quinn or whoever, I think there’s a culture of fear to some extent. But I think as time goes on, more people will come on.” For the sisters, the decision was political and personal. Ms. Bisbee, who lives in Ms. Quinn’s district in Chelsea, blames the speaker for failing to prevent St. Vincent’s Medical Center from shuttering in 2010. A few months after it closed, Ms. Bisbee’s 80-year-old mother was taken by ambulance from Chelsea to an East Side hospital with double pneumonia. Ms. Bisbee believes not having St. Vincent’s nearby could have been fatal. “It was a wake-up call,” Ms. Bisbee said.“[Ms. Quinn] is someone I could have supported.” Ms. Neu and her husband, in fact, both gave $4,950, the maximum, to Quinn in 2007.They have since done the same for Quinn rival Bill de Blasio,the public advocate. “Of course we want anyone but Quinn,” Ms. Neu said. “But I’m hoping in the meantime that we’ve elevated the discussion.” Ms. Quinn’s reaction to the first ad, which aired in early April, was swift: In a fundraising blast to her supporters, she called it “a disgrace” and blamed “special interests...closely aligned with my opponents.” She called on her rivals to denounce such independent expenditures (some did) and tried to have the ad taken off the air. Ms. Neu’s company handled the city’s metal,glass and plastic recycling exclusively until 2005, when it merged with Sims Group. Ms. Neu said she no longer lobbies or does business with the city. She is aware that her efforts, as a business owner, to tar and feather the ostensibly most pro-business Democrat in the race might seem strange or affect her ability to obtain city contracts in the future.But she urged others in the business community to set aside any fears and get involved. “If you’re going to complain,” Ms. Neu said, “then do something about it.” Ⅲ Crain’s Insider, our award-winning politics newsletter, is now a blog. Read it every day at www.crainsnewyork.com/insider 6 | Crain’s New York Business | April 22, 2013 http://www.acecny.org http://www.acecny.org http://www.crainsnewyork.com/insider

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - April 22, 2013

Crains New York - April 22, 2013
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
CORPORATE LADDER
REAL ESTATE DEALS
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
REPORT: GREEN NEW YORK
THE LIST
FOR THE RECORD
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - April 22, 2013