PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

NEW OWNERS RETOOL MENSWEAR CHAIN BACHRACH

By Neil Janowitz

Bachrach is back, its new owners say. Not that it ever actually left the scene, strictly speaking, but this purveyor of high-quality yet affordable menswear had been struggling as recently as two years ago. At that time, Sun Capital Partners owned the chain, which was founded in Decatur, Ill., 130 years ago by Henry Bachrach. Management was relying on 20 stores, a robust catalog and a modest Internet presence to stay afloat. Not enough. “It was about to go out of business,” said Greg Braswell, a Bachrach senior vice president. At its peak, the company had owned 80 stores in 20 states.

A year ago CEO Brian Lipman, then just a Bachrach supplier, put together a group of investors and bought the company after its Chapter 11 filing. “Since then, there’s been a plethora of activity, in every sense of the word,” said Braswell.

The new guard made retooling the Web site a priority and reassessed the entire product line. “We took it back to being a true specialty store, both in terms of the product mix and how we marketed it,” said Braswell. “Our niche, historically speaking, has been the Bachrach twist,” said Braswell. “In our business, for example, black is the most popular color. But we try to add some contemporary style, so we’ll take a basic black suit and put a twist on it. We’ll tweak it, to make it a unique Bachrach product. We like to call them ‘thraples’ — staples with a thrill.”

This revamp is already paying off. “As we’ve progressed, we’ve witnessed an immediate response from our customers,” said Braswell, who claims that comparable-store sales are up between 20 and 35 percent year on year. “We just had one of our strongest catalog launches in the history of the company, and that was during the summer, which is our toughest season.”

The company has nearly 40 full-price stores right now; later this year there will be about half a dozen more, Braswell says. Most will measure about 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, though some will be as large as 8,000 square feet. The company looks at lifestyle and open-air centers, malls and freestanding locations.

The bulk of the expansion is to take place along the East Coast. Of the units Bachrach plans to open by springtime, seven will be in Simon Property Group plazas in the East and four in Pyramid Management Group properties in New York state. Indianapolis and Austin, Texas, are targets for expansion too, as are the Carolinas and Florida. But wherever the openings are, Bachrach will not compromise on clothing solely to increase the customer base, says Dave Hershey, the senior assistant at the Bachrach store in the Fashion Mall at Keystone Crossing, a Simon mall in Indianapolis. “It’s a better product now, more high-end and exclusive, which has helped boost sales,” Hershey said. “We strive to provide upscale clothing. People aren’t in here looking for discounts. We don’t need promotions to attract customers, because we manage to put up numbers comparable to larger competitors while charging full retail price.”

This is not to say that the chain has departed from its founder’s mission — his first store was called Cheap Charley — to provide affordable merchandise, however. “Our suits are barely a step down in quality [from] places three times more expensive,” Hershey said. “That’s why there’s no one else like us. We emphasize fashion over value, but even so, our clothes are still a great deal.”

Braswell defines the company’s demographic as being men around 40 years of age, with an income level upwards of $125,000. And though he says that the new product mix has begun to attract a younger crowd — a lot of prom and homecoming shoppers, as well as the sons of established clients — the chain nevertheless targets a very narrow clientele. The company prides itself on being a niche retailer.

Compounding the problem of specialized appeal is the company’s historical approach to advertising. There wasn’t any. Chris Arnold, Bachrach’s vice president of marketing and advertising, is the first to admit that before the buyout, the company did no promotions outside of the catalog. But this year, to commemorate both the rejuvenation of the company and its 130th anniversary, Bachrach is plugging itself like never before. In September the company launched its first TV ad campaign ever, and it has been holding in-store events and sending out mailings.

Not a moment too soon, says Robert K. Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York City–based retail consulting firm. Bachrach would be wise, Passikoff says, to take a page from the playbook of Ralph Lauren, which he calls the gold standard. “Ralph Lauren has a distinct image,” he said. “He stands for something. People believe in him. I recently saw an ad featuring a golfer in Ralph Lauren golf attire. I didn’t know Ralph Lauren did golf clothing, but I thought to myself, ‘Sure, he could do that. That makes sense.’ But if people see or hear the word Bachrach, most of them are going to think of Burt. And that’s everything you need to know.”

In fairness, some readers will note that the names are spelled differently, though sounding the same, but perhaps the point is well taken. And yet Hershey, for one, remains upbeat. “Everyone believes in the company once again,” said Hershey, who is still in Indianapolis but has moved a few miles up the road to take over as general manager of the Castleton Square Mall store. “Our buyers stepped it up, and our employees are keeping the momentum going.”