kindred.
Repositioning a regional retailer for a younger audience
Snapshot
Overview: A conceptual rebrand of a long-established regional department store (Boscov's), exploring how a legacy retailer could evolve to connect with a younger, more digitally native audience without abandoning its core strengths.
Role: Brand strategy, naming, identity
Deliverables: Brand concept, name, identity, digital & social ad concepts, merchandise
Type: Concept
The Challenge
With decades of brand equity built around affordability, service, and community, the retailer faced a familiar problem: relevance. While the brand remained trusted by longtime customers, it lacked cultural resonance with younger shoppers accustomed to seamless digital experiences and brands that feel personal rather than transactional.
Audience Insight
Younger consumers aren’t looking for “cheap," they’re looking for accessible quality and a sense of belonging. They want brands that feel human, socially aware, and easy to engage with both online and in-store.
Brand Concept
Find Your Flock
The concept reframes shopping as a shared experience rather than a solitary task. It positions the brand as a place where customers feel recognized, welcomed, and connected — to products, to community, and to each other.
Brand Values
Comfort — easy, unforced, familiar
Effortless — intuitive and approachable
Community — rooted in connection and belonging
Naming Strategy
The new name, kindred., reflects affinity and shared values. It suggests likeness rather than hierarchy — a brand that meets customers where they are instead of speaking down to them.
The period adds a sense of confidence and modernity, signaling clarity and intent.
Tone of Voice
Youthful, conversational, and playful — with moments of slang — without tipping into irony or exclusion. The voice aims to feel inclusive rather than aspirational in a distant way
Visual Language
The visual system leans into warmth and approachability, using simple layouts, modern typography, and flexible applications that work across retail, digital, and social environments.
Outcome
The rebrand positions the retailer as a contemporary lifestyle brand — one that honors its history while creating space for a new generation of customers to see themselves reflected.
