Walmart takes aim at Target with bold new fashion line

Once a child becomes a teenager, parents lose some control. They still pay the rent, and they likely pay for necessities like food and clothing, but teenagers have meaningful opinions, strong wills, and, as they get older, sometimes their own money.

Tweens, children ages 8 to 12, have opinions, but they lack resources. That gives their parents much more influence over everything from how they eat to how they dress.

Walmart wants to reach that lucrative group and has created a new line of clothing specifically for tweens. That’s a very difficult audience to please, but it’s also an age group where mom and dad still control most of the decisions.

Target has gone after tweens with its owned and operated brands. Now, Walmart (WMT) is making a major push into the space.

“Walmart has launched Weekend Academy, a new private tween fashion brand, building on the retailer’s stylish fashion assortment for kids of all ages,” the company shared on its website.

Walmart's tween clothing line is attempting to mix fashion and affordability and it's clearly being positioned as a Target Cat & Jack competitor.

“The assortment was designed with today’s tweens in mind, offering on-trend styles they crave at prices their parents will love — including most items available for under $15, with many priced at less than $10,” it added.

Walmart can reach tweens through their parents.

Image source: Walmart

Walmart faces tweens who want to be teens

Tweens are a difficult group to reach. They have their own fashion sense, in some cases, and see the same influencers that impact teenagers.

Karen from NourishingTweens.com explained how tweens, at least tween girls, approach style.

“There’s been a real change in tween girl style over the past five years or so. Preteens used to have their own look which was different from teenagers. But because of social media, especially TikTok and other cultural changes, tween style as its own category has disappeared,” she wrote.

That could create problems for Walmart as it looks to create fashionable clothes for kids ages 8-12.

Karen makes it clear why tween fashion has mostly gone away.

“Why did that happen? Well, when older generations were growing up, we often mimicked the fashion of celebrities. I remember my friends and I had so much fun looking through magazines like Teen Beat and Tiger Beat! We got our fashion ideas from movies like ‘Sixteen Candles' and ‘Pretty in Pink,'” she shared.

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Kids, she shared, no longer get their clothing ideas from movies and television.

“Nowadays, kids get fashion ideas from TikTok – it’s peer to peer, seeing what other girls are wearing, instead of what the fashion industry and celebrities suggest. Younger tweens now just wear what their older peers are wearing,” she posted.

Walmart has a path to reach tweens: their parents

Experts from RetailWire's Brain Trust, a group of qualified experts who comment on stories, feel more confident about Walmart's chances.

Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData’s retail division, sees it as a challenging, but possible, path for Walmart.

“First, both awareness and affinity among tweens have improved over time – a reflection of Walmart’s efforts to modernize its brand and product offering, and of its efforts on social platforms. Second, usage of Walmart’s online marketplace has increased among tweens,” he shared.

That, however, is not why Weekend Academy might be a hit for the retailer.

“Walmart’s real strength lies in its reach with parents. Many tweens are indirectly exposed to the brand through their parents’ shopping habits, particularly in-store. This exposure introduces them to ranges such as the new Weekend Academy apparel line, which parents may purchase on their behalf,” he added.

Lucile Dehart, another retail expert, believes that parents are the key to success as well.

“Walmart actually has an advantage in marketing to tweens: for one, the parents are already shopping there, unlike specialty competitors, so they are more likely to be in the store. Another advantage is the impact of scale. Walmart has a lot more buying power than prior retailers targeting this market and has far more reach and services, including same-day delivery,” she posted.

Mohamed Aher, a retail consultant, does not believe Walmart will succeed in this space.

“Walmart can’t compete for Tweens’ mindshare against Instagram and TikTok-driven aspirational brands. Walmart understands what they’re up against, but they’re playing defense in an attention economy where discovery increasingly happens outside traditional retail channels. Cracking the social media influence game is not part of Walmart’s core competencies,” he wrote.

Bottom Line: Walmart’s Weekend Academy brand puts it in direct competition with Target for the tween market. While it may struggle to win over trend-driven tweens, its real strength is in the convenience and value it offers parents.