Jos. A. Bank and Men’s Wearhouse to
Shutter 250 Stores

| published March 10, 2016 |

By Thursday Review staff

The company which owns and manages the Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank line of retail stores says it is in the early stages of closing at least 250 stores across the United States. Parent company Tailored Brands says it cannot justify maintaining underperforming locations two years after a massive merger linked the two previously unrelated stores under one banner.

The parent company will also close about 60 of its formalwear stores, most of which go under the retail name of MW Tux. Tailored Brands says it will continue it tuxedo sales and rental business, but shift it instead into those Men’s Wearhouse locations it intends to keep open.

Sales for all three stores have suffered mightily in recent years, especially after the merger failed to produce the profits all partners sought back in 2014. The high-end Jos. A. Bank subsidiary took the hardest hit after the merger was complete. Bank’s previous marketing efforts—often based on deep sale prices, buy three-ties-for-the-price-of-one, or buy-one-suit-get-one-at-half-off discounts—allowed shoppers to save on upscale business and daily wear. But under new management the previous Jos. A. Bank marketing model was largely scrapped, resulting in a rapid drop off in walk-in customer sales.

Both Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank have also faced intense pressure as sales of men’s clothing online has escalated and as shoppers find they can save money and time by buying from deep discount online retailers. On-site and in-store sales of clothes have been steadily dropping for several years, and like many of the major department stores—J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Belk, Macy’s, Dillard’s, and others—brick and mortar retailers find it difficult to challenge the pricing, variety and ease of online shopping. Jos. A. Bank also suffered during an ill-fated experiment with outlet stores and outlet malls, which management now concedes the company was unable to “differentiate” among customers from the regular stores, which normally sold at deep discounts anyway.

Jos. A. Bank has been losing money since late 2014. Last quarter, its sales fell some 32% over the previous fourth quarter.

Related Thursday Review articles:

Wal-Mart Closing 269 Stores, Will Cut 16,000 Jobs; Thursday Review staff; Thursday Review; January 17, 2016.

Macy's to Layoff Thousands, Close 36 Stores; Thursday Review staff; Thursday Review; January 7, 2016.