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LANDLORDS WOO JOS. A. BANK WITH SWEETENERS

BY SASCHA BRODSKY

Landlords love Jos. A. Bank Clothiers so much they are paying about 40 percent of its store-opening and renovation costs this year, the chain’s executives said during a year-end conference call last month.

The Hampstead, Md.-based menswear chain plans to open about 70 new stores this year at a cost of about $35 million, said Robert Wildrick, the chain’s president and CEO. Of that, about $14 million will be reimbursed by landlords in the form of build-out allowances, he said.

Bank, which was operating about 270 stores in 37 states at press time, has been opening units at a rate of about 60 per year for the past three years. “Landlord support with build-outs has increased steadily, and we expect to see that continue,” said Robert Hensley, executive vice president of stores and operations.

The new stores will be mostly in open-air and lifestyle centers, Hensley said. “We like to be located so our customer can conveniently shop near where he lives or works,” he said. The average store size will remain about 4,500 square feet.

The chain posted an increase in total sales of 26.8 percent last year, to $127.9 million. Same-store sales, meanwhile, grew 8.4 percent, and net income rose 50 percent to $24.5 million. The year’s biggest sellers were stain- and wrinkle-proof suits and sportswear, the executives said.

Over the next five years, as the chain draws near to having 450-500 stores, Wildrick said, it will start looking at ways to deploy its considerable stack of cash, including new concepts and acquisitions. Any acquisition target would likely be a smaller, higher-end menswear concept, though women’s apparel is not out of the question, he said.

This newfound popularity is particularly gratifying for Bank, which was caught off guard by the business-casual trend of the 1990s. Its suits and other formal wear no longer in demand, the century-old retailer nearly went out of business. To survive, it broadened its merchandise, offered more-stylish designs, updated the look of its stores, dropped its women’s line and launched an aggressive store rollout. (In 1998 it ran 103 stores.) Though still known for its suits — they cost about $300 to $1,300 — Bank’s merchandise ranges from formal wear to underwear, as its executives are fond of saying.

Bank also launched a “three levels of luxury” merchandising strategy, featuring collections dubbed Executive, Signature and Signature Gold, with escalating prices and high-end touches.

The chain is a bright spot in an otherwise spotty menswear market. Men’s apparel trailed women’s in the rebound from the most recent recession, and shopping centers are clearly more devoted to women’s clothing. Even as the economy has improved and men scramble to choose clothes appropriate for work in the face of some still-murky office dress codes, few specialty retailers exist solely for men.