What is it with the Boutique/Urban trend?

I just met some old coworkers for lunch and one of them mentioned that Alpinestars had recently fired all of their sales reps—a move to become “more fashioney”. She had heard that they are aiming to be in only boutiques; that the goal is to be out of specialty retail.

This got us talking.

Why does the current trend with action sports brands seem to be that they all want to be perceived as this “boutique/urban” brand? As one of the girls said, “Why are these companies so driven to move away from their bread and butter and go into specialty fashion?” Can anyone answer this? I understand if they want to grow their sales and move to the next level—reach a new audience by being in these boutique stores, but why would they want to give up their roots all together?

Comments

[John]

Maybe an amibition for higher margins? Fashion in general provides that, as oppose to sports or specialty.