Going On Impulse: Macy's Plots Push In Contemporary With Exclusives.

Byline: DAVE MOIN

GOING ON IMPULSE

Macy's Plots Push In Contemporary With Exclusives

NEW YORK

Macy's is aiming to get hipper and muscle deeper into the contemporary market.

The all-American department store, which has built its fashion business primarily on traditional and better brands for the misses customer, is about to unleash a strategy to escalate its underdeveloped contemporary business and spice up its mainstream image.

Contemporary departments, called Impulse, will mushroom from the current 200 Macy's doors to 220 this year, and up to 400 over time, giving the retailer a bigger market reach than any competitor. Established and emerging designers, even a few Europeans that previously would have been inclined to go with H&M or Target before Macy's, will rotate in and out of the Impulse mix via exclusive capsule collections. Kinder Aggugini, a designer from London with a rock 'n' roll edge, is up first, to be followed later by Karl Lagerfeld, among others.

And a new private brand venture, called Bar III, will "anchor" the Impulse space. Bar III will be further trumpeted with Macy's first-ever pop-up shop at 156 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District here. The shop opens Feb. 10 and will operate for five weeks. Pop-ups are often preludes to permanent stores, raising speculation that Macy's may branch out into specialty retailing with Bar III or Impulse.

Macy's officials said they are not currently looking at additional real estate, but could consider the possibility …