Men’s Wearhouse to buy Jos. A. Bank for $1.8 Billion
“The deal combines the two largest independent men’s clothing retailers…
Both brand names will continue to operate after the deal, and the companies did not announce plans to close any of the 1,700 stores they have between them.”
Maybe worth a revisit?
Hat tip to Peter S. and Winfield T. for the tips on the news.
lulz
In terms of valuations, Men’s Wearhouse overpaid by at least several hundred million dollars.
Naturally, a lot of stores are going to close to make their geographic footprint more effective.
But I’m really not sure this will make any difference for the readers on this site. It’s probably better that MW bought Jos A Bank and not the other way around. At least MW has even trying to modernize their wardrobe and hasn’t used the borderline predatory pricing practices of Jos A Bank.
“Maybe worth a revisit?”
Nope.
In picture form.
So the Men’s Wearhouse and the Jos A Bank half a mile apart in near my office will both stay open? BEST. DAY. EVER.
They actually only had to buy 200 stores…Jos. A. Bank threw the rest in free.
This is as relevant to Dappered readers as a MySpace – CompuServe merger.
I agree with your last two sentences.
You never know.
Better stock up on the shoe trees then…
Now I won’t get to call them Jose Bank anymore 🙁
Put This On called it an “evil voltron of ill-fitting menswear”. I think that about sums it up.
As the assistant manager of a Jos. A. Bank store all I hope that happens out of this is that I get a raise or a better commission structure.
Throw me a bone here people.
Have never bought a single piece of clothing from either of those stores. Of course, I’m also not middle-aged and care about how my clothes fit.
We can hope – I’d love if in the days of a menswear resurgence against tshirts, flip flops and hoodies, a major menswear chain decided to do a reverse radioshack, and have it’s salesmen / bosses filtered by knowledge / ability to give useful advice ( a filter you’d presumably pass), and aid correspondingly more. Mergers like these tend to lead to easy/lazy savings of redundancies / inefficiencies. You’re probably safe unless your whole store is redundant. The promotions guy who decides that instead of selling a suit for $200, you’re going to sell it for $800, with 3 included free, may be redundant with his / her men’s warehouse counterpart, and they may have a thunderdome-style performance review.
I have 2 suits from JAB. They’re not that bad, especially if you get them on clearance. I got a navy summer weight suit for $70 and a decent charcoal suit I needed in a pinch for sub $200. Not most modern styles, but not bad for the money, at the actual good sale prices, anyway
you think it WILL make a difference to readers of the site? I try hard not to set foot in either of the stores. The only thing I buy is their shoe trees when its a buy one get 2 free sale…
No, not necessarily. I have no idea whether or not they “overpaid” (I’m not a financial expert by any stretch, and wouldn’t make such a confident statement unless I was), I don’t know if a lot of stores are going to close, but what I do think, is that an attempt to modernize by MW has potential.
I haven’t stepped foot in either store for years, but at least MW is trying to get my feet back in the door.
Used the “buy one, get two companies free” joke this morning in a job interview with an M&A lawyer. She liked it. *hat tip*
I bought a tan cotton twill suit from them almost a year ago for $50, and have yet to get it tailored. The pants aren’t even hemmed. It just sits on a hanger. I figure I’ll whip it out when someone finally decides to invite me to a mid-day spring wedding.
You have a way with words like JAB has a way with great suits.
Menswear snobs are cute.
“I haven’t set foot in the store ever/for years but despite that I know, thanks to my Clothing Spidey Sense, that there’s nothing in there but crap!”
I’ve never shopped at JAB, so don’t know anything about their stuff, but I occasionally find great values at MW. Just a couple weeks ago I got a Calvin Klein X slim fit suit and a Kenneth Cole slim fit for $199 each. Wool and canvassed, tailored on site, and they’re pretty nice. They don’t cuddle me and reassure me about how fancy I am like my Hickey Freeman, but they do fit and drape orders of magnitude better than any sub-$200 suit has any right to.
I guess the upshot is that it’s possible for stores that hope to cater to a broad cross-section of the species to have decent stuff, too (see, for example, Target and JCP).
I, personally never said their stuff was crap. Although after years of popping into Jos. A. Bank just to SEE if their stuff had been changing, and it hadn’t, I gave up. I think the last time I gave them a shot was maybe a year ago, when the cotton summer suit I ordered from online showed up being almost all polyester. So, that kinda stunk.
Mens Wearhouse seems to be really trying (as I stated above in a couple of comments) to turn a corner. Leaning younger, cleaner, meaner, etc. And I give them credit for that.
That said, you sure your suits aren’t fused? I know it’s actually pretty hard to tell fused vs. half canvas, but I got married in a KCNY, and I put my hands on them and the Calvin Kleins when I drop in on Macys from time to time. They always feel somewhat stiff to me.
One thing to keep an eye out for at Mens Wearhouse is the Talia brand. They seem to do a real nice job.
Oh, I know, Joe – you weren’t calling them out. I’d noticed you were sort of raising an eyebrow at some of the more dismissive comments, actually.
And no, I’m not sure the suits aren’t fused. I asked the consultant, and he said they were canvassed, and at the price it seemed like a fairly safe gamble.
They feel pretty good, but to be totally honest I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference as long as the construction was sound. They’ve been great additions to the work wardrobe (I have to wear suits about four days per week to the office).
I would never buy a suit from either of these stores but for things like socks, sweaters, some pocket squares belts. you know secondary items, its a good place stock up on a few things. especially if your a bigger guy