Menswear chain Ed Harry has revealed plans to revamp, as it attempts to rebuild the business post-administration.
As reported in www.ragtrader.com.au, the South Australia-based retailer was placed in voluntary administration in February, due to the difficult trading environment. The brand was later saved by management buyout when CEO David Clark and chief financial officer John Read bought the business via Specialty Mens Apparel.
Clark and Read now own 80 Ed Harry outlets nationwide and according to Clark, the business is ready to regain its footing in the market, with plans to refresh and expand already underway.
“We just opened our first 'new look' store in Sydney in April and we now have at least another four store makeovers planned for the next calendar year. These will be selected stores across Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia,” he said.
“Based on our performance, Victoria is also a key target for retail expansion in the short to medium term. We are seeing that our offer is very well accepted in that area, so we see a lot of opportunity for growth there.”
Clark said the brand has also narrowed its target market since administration and is tailoring its product offering to reflect the shift.
“The business has traditionally catered to casual men's apparel, to a very wide catchment age group. However, as we've narrowed our main customer base down to men in their 30's, we see an opportunity to deliver more of a wide selection to that target market, as we've dropped off parts of the business that are no longer viable,” he said. “We've just added socks, belts, bags and ties over the past month and our footwear collection will begin to arrive in-store this month.”
The Ed Harry shoe ranges will be split between two delivery dates, with casual footwear to drop in-store this month and and the formal component to launch in February next year. Clark said the number shoe styles will vary from month-to-month, but the brand will offer 10 to15 pieces of footwear at all times, across both collections.
Ed Harry will also boost its suiting options from two to six in February 2012, and is looking to launch a new website by mid-2012 to support the brand's expansion.
“We currently have a website, but we are very keen to take that to the next level, so we will be launching a pretty exciting menswear e-store around June/July next year,” Clark said.
“This will incorporate an e-commerce facility and will stock our entire range. It will also have some features that won't have been seen on other menswear websites, with a focus on delivering exactly what our customers want.”