Local retailers ready to battle Wal-Mart

PORTLAND – Local retailers say they’re not threatened by Wal-Mart’s attempt to take an even bigger chunk of the important back-to-school market by offering discount denim.

Eric Levinsky, whose Levinsky’s store sits across from a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Route 302, says the new push isn’t a big threat.

“I was actually in the store recently, checking out the quality of the new clothing,” Levinsky said. “It’s sold as Levi’s Signature jeans. It was not at all like the product I sell. It doesn’t have the same thread count or weight.”

Even so, any time a company as large and wealthy as Wal-Mart tries to take a piece of a local merchant’s business, especially the back-to-school market, the local merchant has to pay attention.

The sluggish economy is encouraging parents and their children to be more price-conscious, which works in the big discount retailer’s favor. The partnership with Levi Strauss & Co. brings a brand associated with both quality and value to Wal-Mart.

The test of its success will soon come in the form of fashion-savvy back-to-school shoppers as retailers look forward to the strong season for apparel sales.

The Levi’s addition, along with Wal-Mart’s makeover of its teen and preteen fashion areas, puts even more pressure on department and specialty stores that have lost back-to-school business to mass merchants.