JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. announces that the Company will be expanding into the tuxedo rental business. The Company plans to launch the new initiative this month on a test basis in approximately 5% of its stores. Following the test launch, the Company plans to rollout the initiative to more than half of its stores in the spring of 2010.
R. Neal Black, President and CEO of JoS. A. Bank, stated: “Our customers have asked us for this service. Although we are a national leader in the sales of tuxedos, we have not offered the specific formalwear products and services that are most commonly used by wedding parties and these products complete our formal assortment. We are continually looking for ways to expand sales and offer our customers 'one-stop' shopping. There are very few national companies in this business and with over 4.9 million customers in our database, this business offers a significant opportunity for the Company.”
David E. Ullman, CFO, added: “We have partnered with a national distributor who will own the inventory and deliver the orders to our stores, thus reducing the required investment and risk associated with starting up a new operation. With this structure, we expect that the incremental sales volume will add to the operating margins of the Stores segment, although the gross profit rate will be lower than we achieve with our merchandise sales. Also, the tuxedo rental business has the potential to generate significantly higher gross margins if we choose to invest in our own infrastructure in the future.”
JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc
marketing@alchempro.com
