The textile business is one of the oldest industries of our time, and it employs nearly 1.4 million workers within the European Union alone. It is not unusual that this is the foundation of a country’s industrialisation. Even though the industry brings many positive factors, there are also negative factors that will influence the industry’s growth in the future. One of the textile industry’s largest negative factor is the effect it has on the environment.The current recession that is effecting our society is spreading all over the world. It is for the future to decide what kind of fashion companies that will survive. According to analysts, it is the companies with a nisch that are mostly expected to survive, for example, Case Company X which is working with design, production and sales of ecological fashion clothes. It is therefore important and relevant for Case Company X to make not only short but also long-term strategies to keep up with the fashion industry’s competition and dynamic development.The purpose of this study is to identify the main target group for Case Company X and to present possible sales channels and strategies for the company.We have used the hermeneutical perspective since the different research areas can be seen as a whole. Our method of working has been abduction, since we have chosen to alternate between empirical data and theory. The study combines both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative method has been used to make deeper research within Case Company X, and the quantitative method has been used in the work with the questionnaire to try and find the company’s main target group. According to which part of the study that has been researched, the choice of data has varied. To make the study more reliable, we have chosen to use both primary and secondary data.We have been able to identify the main target group and we have also been able to suggest suitable future sales channels and strategies for the company. The main target group for Case Company X are working women aged between 20-45, with a middle to high income, and who buy clothes on average once a month.Taken together, our results indicate that the following two factors are important in the choice of sales channels for Case Company X, (i) how the company and its brand can be introduced to the high street i.e. sold in shops like Mouche, NK Designers, NK Mode, Grace, Solo, and Venti Nove (ii), how the staff can effectively explain the positive effects of ecological clothes. We believe that Drömma, Åhléns, Hildur as well as Case Company X own website are retailers of interest.IIWe recommend that Case Company X should only work with one segment and try to satisfy one specific target group. Therefore, we suggest that Case Company X initially should establish itself as a nisch company on the Swedish market. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

Syftet med den här studien är att ta reda på vilken kunskap och vilka värderingar som finns i klädesbutiker angående kemikalier i kläder och om ekologiska alternativ. Jag vill även undersöka på vilket sätt information kan påverka butikerna till att agera i linje med en hållbar utveckling. Särskilt vill jag undersöka hur butikernas företagskultur påverkar deras strategiska arbete. Jag har gjort en kvalitativ undersökning och intervjuat 13 butiksinnehavare i centrala Malmö. Först träffade jag intervjupersonerna i deras butiker, några månader senare ringde jag upp var och en för att se om de tänkt något på det vi samtalat om eller till och med gjort några förändringar.De flesta av intervjupersonerna visste mycket lite om vad det finns för regler gällande kemikalier i textil, de hade dock viss kunskap om ekologiska kläder. Kunden, leverantören, media, producenten samt stat och kommun identifierades som aktörer som kunde påverka företagaren i sitt agerande. Flera av de intervjuade ifrågasatte om kvalitet och stil var lika bra i ekologiska kläder och de trodde att de ekologiska kläderna var dyrare. De flesta var tveksamma till om kunden ville betala mellanskillnaden. Några av dem misstrodde dessutom ekologiska märkningar. Intervjupersonerna tyckte att priset, stilen och kvaliteten på kläderna var viktiga, ett par av dem ansåg att miljöspekten var överordnad. Det fanns en viss vilja till förändring bland intervjupersonerna men med den följde krav på att de ekologiska kläderna överensstämde med butikernas överordnade mål. Butikernas företagskulturer tillsammans med människorna i butikerna, deras attityder och värderingar, påverkade butikernas strategiska miljöarbete. Att få information om kemikalier som kan finnas i kläder hade olika effekt på företagarna men det visade sig att det krävs mer än kunskap för att förändra deras agerande i linje med en hållbar utveckling.Nyckelord: Klädbutiker, kemikalier i kläder, ekologiska kläder, företagskulturer,miljöstrategiskt arbete, kunskap, värderingar och agerande.Abstract / The purpose for this study is to find out which knowledge and values there are in clothing stores about chemicals in clothes and about ecological alternatives. I also would like to see in what way information can affect the stores to act in a sustainable way. Especially I want to investigate how the stores corporate culture affects their strategic work. I have done a qualitative survey and I interviewed 13 storeowners in the center of Malmo. First I met the people I interviewed in their stores, a couple of months later I followed up with telephone interviews.The store owners knew very little about rules in the area of chemicals in textile, however they had some knowledge about ecological clothing. The customer, the deliverer, media, the producer, the state and communes are identified as important actors that could affect the corporate owner and the actions. The people in the survey questioned if the quality and style could be as good when the clothes were ecological and they thought that they were more expensive, most of them didn´t believe that the customers were willing to pay for the difference. Some of those I have talked to were mistrusting ecological markings. The people I talked to felt that the price, the style and the quality of the clothes was important, a few viewed the environmental impact as the most important. They had some will to change but it was followed with demands that the ecological clothes and there head goals were compatible. The corporate cultures together with the people in the stores, there attitudes and values, affected the strategic environmental work of the stores. The information affected the store owners in different ways but it is required more than knowledge to change their actions against a more sustainable way.Keywords: Clothing stores, chemical in clothes, ecological clothes, corporate cultures, environmental strategic work, knowledge, values and action.