AEFFE’S BIG IPO PUSH/3 LAUDER TO BUY OJON/3 Global Edition WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’TUESDAY Daily Newspaper • July 10, 2007 • $2.00 Ready-to-Wear/Textiles Pip Stars NEW YORK — They sound like a harmonized dream and have a penchant for polkadot dresses. What’s not to love about The Pipettes? Here, the British girl group opts out of their dotty uniforms in favor of the latest from holiday, photographed at Beauty Bar, New York. From left: RiotBecki in Trina Turk’s trench, Pono necklace, Steven by Steve Madden belt and Bettye Mueller shoes; Gwenno in Walter’s dress, Baccarat necklace and Staerk shoes, and Rosay in Tibi’s coat and dress and Bettye Mueller shoes. For more, see pages 6 and 7. Z; STYLED BY KIM FRIDAY Z; STYLED BY An Era Ends: Limited Sells Flagship to Focus on Global Growth By Vicki M. Young purveyor of intimate apparel and officer, from an apparel-only fter selling the bulk of the personal care. retailer to one that generates most Acore Limited Stores division The sale of this division and of its profits and revenues from Monday to a private equity firm, the deal to sell Express, signed innerwear and beauty products. Limited Brands founder Leslie last month, complete an evolution The 44-year-old company sold H. Wexner is pursuing his plan to of the group, led by Wexner as a 75 percent stake in the firm’s remold the company into a global chairman and chief executive See Limited, Page 28 PHOTO BY TALAYA CENTENO; HAIR BY DIEGO AMERICO/DE FACTO; MAKEUP BY DEBORAH ALTIZIO/AARTIST LOFT; FASHION ASSISTANT: YELENA MORO ASSISTANT: FASHION LOFT; ALTIZIO/AARTIST DEBORAH MAKEUP BY DIEGO AMERICO/DE FACTO; CENTENO; HAIR BY TALAYA PHOTO BY 2 WWD/GLOBAL, JULY 2007 WWD.COM Takeover Talk Sparks Heavy Trading in Retail By Vicki M. Young Assoc. wrote in a research note that TJX is an attractive take- WWDTUESDAY mid continuing specula- over candidate for private equi- Ready-to-Wear/Textiles Ation, shares of Macy’s Inc. ty, and maintained his rating of and Target Corp. were again the the stock at “accumulate,” with focus of heavy trading volume a $33-a-share price target. FASHION Monday as their shares fell. Shares of TJX climbed 3.7 Dressing up The Pipettes — Gwenno, RiotBecki and Rosay — who TJX Cos. Inc. also experi- percent on Monday to close at 6 shun their navy-and-white polkadot dresses for some holiday fare. enced higher-than-usual trading $29.22. More than 8.3 million activity on the Big Board. shares were traded, compared GENERAL Macy’s has been the subject with a three-month average of After selling the bulk of Limited Stores to a private equity fi rm, Limited of takeover speculation. The lat- almost 3.4 million. Brands Inc. aims to be a global purveyor of lingerie and personal care. est rumor on Monday had buyout Target shares lost ground 1 fi rm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Monday, falling 2 percent to close Aeffe SpA kicked off its initial public offering Monday, seeking to jump- Co. eyeing the retailer. When at $66.72. Volume was in excess of 3 start international expansion across several of its luxury brands. Macy’s stock price fi rst began 12 million shares, versus a three- OUTERWEAR: In what is shaping up to be the year of the coat, a bevy of climbing last month, it was be- month average of 8.2 million. contemporary designers has gotten in on the outerwear action this fall. cause of rumblings that KKR, Shares of Target on Friday 10 Goldman Sachs and Providence experienced intensely high TEXTILES: Buyers attending next week’s New York textile week will Capital were preparing a buyout trading activity as 27 million 14 witness an evolution, as two major shows make a move to new venues. bid of $52 a share. shares changed hands on specu- Democrats are forging a trade policy aimed at curbing China’s currency On Friday, there were rum- lation that activist hedge fund and trade practices, and helping U.S. workers displaced by imports. blings that billionaire investor fi rm Pershing Square might fi le 21 Edward Lampert, chairman of ESL a Form 13D with the Securities TRANSIT: As fuel prices rise and brands get better at producing globally, Investments, which bailed Kmart Target’s stock fell 2 percent to close and Exchange Commission to fewer shipments are taking to the air en route to their fi nal destination. at $66.72 on Monday. 24 Holding Corp. out of bankruptcy John Hardy, founder of the namesake jewelry fi rm, has sold his stake to and later engineered the merger president Damien Dernoncourt and creative director Guy Bedarida. of Kmart and Sears, Roebuck and 27 Co., might seek to acquire the de- We believe it would be diffi cult for an partment store giant. The stock “ READY-TO-WEAR rose more than 5 percent. activist shareholder to push a sale of Designers have learned they can succeed among the masses by Shares of Macy’s on Monday 8 launching one-off collaborations or diffusion lines with chain stores. closed at $41.65, down 0.8 per- [Target’s] credit card business. cent. More than 5.6 million shares ” were traded. The three-month av- — Deborah Weinswig, Citigroup EYE erage volume is 7.1 million, but Overachievers looking to get a head start on the upcoming academic that number is skewed higher be- could not be substantiated, they force the discounter to sell its 4 year can tune in to the new dramedy “Greek” on ABC Family. cause of Friday’s trading volume fueled trading activity, par- credit card business. of almost 13 million shares. ticularly since speculation of a Citigroup Global Market’s re- Classifi ed Advertisements.............................................................35 KKR also was the subject private equity transaction has tail analyst, Deborah Weinswig, To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is fi rstname. of market whispers in connec- been in the market for about on Monday wrote in a research [email protected], using the individual’s name. tion with a possible deal for two months. Last month, analyst note: “We do not believe [Target] TJX Cos. Inc. While the rumors Mark Montagna of C.L. King & management is interested in WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT selling the credit card busi- ©2007 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 194, NO. 6. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one ness, as they believe it helps additional issue in January and November, two additional issues in March, May, June, August and December, and three fuel growth of core retail op- additional issues in February, April, September and October) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance erations. Given Target’s recent Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by strong performance, we believe Condé Nast Publications: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. 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