Looking For Your Clothing Brand? Might Need A Map

ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of fashion's best-known names are playing musical chairs.

Faced with a consolidating department store industry and eroding sales, some labels are cutting ties with retailers that sold their clothing and betting their future with one chain. Liz Claiborne Inc.'s announcement last month that it's moving its namesake line to J.C. Penney Co. from Macy's Inc. and other stores follows similar moves by other major brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Dana Buchman.

"You need some sort of chart ... with retailers and brands, where you are using erasable ink," said Michael Stone, CEO of The Beanstalk Group, a brand consultant. "They are moving around so much."

The brand-hopping can confuse shoppers who can't find their favorite label. But in some cases it means shoppers will be able to get a taste of designer names that only two years ago were far from their grasp.

In the short term, such confusion may hurt the brand, Stone said. But in the long run, the label "settles into its new identity" and becomes a powerful tool for the retailer to attract shoppers.