Jones New York to live on in Canada
TORONTO — Jones New York’s unlikely return from the brink of extinction is due in no small part to a veteran Canadian retail executive who got fed up with seeing retailers who thrive in this market vanish abruptly when their foreign owners go belly up.
Canadian menswear company Grafton Fraser Inc., the privately held owner of chains such as Tip Top Tailors and Mr. Big & Tall, has acquired all 35 Jones New York retail stores across the country, a move that will allow the brand to survive in Canada even though its U.S. stores are closing.
“My senior executives grew up in department stores with this brand,” said Dave McGregor, CEO of Grafton Fraser.
Despite a January report from private equity firm Sycamore Partners saying it would close the Canadian outlets along with 92 stores in the U.S. by the end of 2015 as it sought strategic alternatives for the brand, McGregor said the Canadian stores Grafton Fraser will operate “were profitable, (and) they did a significant amount of volume.”
In April, Authentic Brands LLC, a brand development and licensing company, bought the Jones New York brand and associated trademarks for an undisclosed amount.
A couple of decades ago, Jones New York was a department store staple, but its distribution channels waned as fast-fashion chains such as H&M and Forever 21 flooded into Canada.
Still, Jones New York’s standalone retail stores did very well, McGregor said, despite a tough couple of years in Canadian retail, particularly in apparel.
Last year, once mighty Quebecbased fashion chain Jacob shut down all of its stores other than a handful of outlets in its home province. Le Chateau and Reitmans have both struggled, with the latter closing down its Smart Set chain. Mexx Canada closed in February after a bankruptcy trustee failed to find a buyer for the Dutch apparel chain’s international division. And everyone remembers what happened to Target Canada, though in that case, the U.S. division was also on shaky ground.
McGregor, an executive at Hudson’s Bay Co. until he was hired to run Grafton Fraser in 2010, witnessed the dismaying demise of another U.S.-based Canadian success story firsthand as vice-president of Linens N’ Things in Canada when the U.S. retailer went belly up in 2008.
“The U.S. company faltered, but the Canadian company had the most linens and housewares from a big-box standpoint in Canada. It was a shame to have those 40 stores close,” he said. “I didn’t want to see another good brand go dark for absolutely no reason.”
When Authentic Brands, which holds the rights to a host of brands including Juicy Couture, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Prince, Spyder, Airwalk and Tretorn, bought the Jones New York brand in April, McGregor began working to acquire the leases from Sycamore, and went into partnership with Authentic Brands. And despite the U.S. store closures, Jones New York remains a sizable global brand, with close to $750 million US in retail sales through department stores around the world.
The brand is a natural fit for Grafton Fraser, a 162-year old Canadian company that hasn’t carried womenswear in more than a decade, McGregor said. Its Tip Top Tailor chain became the licensee for Jones New York menswear in 2013.
“It is one of the most important brands in menswear and has been for over 20 years,” he said.