(Phil Wahba)
The parent company of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank is closing 250
stores, unable to stanch chronic sales declines after an ill-advised
merger two years ago.
Tailored Brands Inc., known as Men’s Wearhouse until last month, said
it will close 80 to 90 Jos. A. Bank stores, as well as 58 outlet
stores. What’s more, it will shut 100 to 110 MW Tux locations, as it
shifts its tuxedo rentals business to Men’s Wearhouse stores and partner
Macy’s M 1.16% . No Men’s Wearhouse stores will close given the strong
performance of that chain.
The news comes as Tailored Brands struggles to halt a deep sales
bleed at Jos. A Bank—the result of an abrupt rollback of steep
discounts, such as offering four suits for the price of one, as the
company tried to elevate the chain’s image. Customers balked and stayed
away in droves as Tailored has been unable to wean shoppers off the
deals.
The bloodbath showed no signs of abating. Jos. A. Bank’s comparable
sales fell 31.9% last quarter. The acquisition, made in 2014 after a
contentious fight between the two retailers, has been a big drain on
Tailored’s results ever since. And Jos. A. Bank’s already heavy focus on
discounting made it redundant to have promotion-focused outlets.
“We have determined that outlet stores, which collectively were not
profitable, are not sufficiently differentiated enough from our core
offerings and have not resonated with our customers,” CEO Doug Ewert
said in a statement.
Total sales in the quarter ended Jan. 30 fell to $825.7 million, missing the $838.6 million estimated by analysts.
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