Scotch & Soda’s Global Surge Under Bluestar Alliance
The fashion brand’s parent company is repositioning the brand by introducing
CELEBRATING OUR 39 YEARS OF HERITAGE, WE’RE ALL ABOUT EMBRACING THE FREE SPIRIT OF AMSTERDAM OF TODAY.”
SINCE BLUESTAR ALLIANCE, the New York brand management company, took over Scotch & Soda in May 2023, the company has been making notable strides to elevate the Amsterdam-based fashion retailer. With more than 250 retail stores globally, the company is looking to expand by opening on Carnaby Street in London and throughout China, the Middle East, South Africa and European regions.
With a successful denim and connecting with friends of the knitwear business already brand. It’s not just fashion; it’s a established, Bluestar Alliance’s celebration of Amsterdam’s freemanagement team has developed spirited energy, blending tradition a strategy to expand in these with a touch of rebellious creativity.” categories for Scotch & Soda while While the company has deep simultaneously making strides in menswear origins, the fashion the tailored and dress sections brand’s sartorial bold color and to gain momentum within the details have widely appealed to its contemporary market. Notably, women’s customer base. Identifying the company has also targeted dresses as a major growth expansion in the womenswear opportunity, Bluestar Alliance has sector of the brand. used data and analytical insights
“Celebrating our 39 years of to develop “a comprehensive heritage, we’re all about embracing and unique assortment strategy the free spirit of Amsterdam of based on core, trend and seasonal today,” said Eran Kaim, chief categories and styles.” The tailored product officer at Scotch & Soda. line collection is sold at a wide
“Our Amsterdam design studio range of department stores continues to deliver designs that including Macy’s, Nordstrom, are rich, unexpected and exclusive. Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s We’re pushing the boundaries and Le Bon Marché, Mytheresa, with inspiring collaborations and Breuninger and Brown Thomas.
“We are expanding our e-commerce and retail footprint in those areas where the brand is already well penetrated and we’ve seen a continued increase in customer demand,” Bluestar Alliance’s chief executive officer, Joey Gabbay, told Fairchild Studio. “Some of the regions we are focusing on include France, U.K., U.A.E., Mexico, South America and the United
States. We are redeploying capital to support the build out of shop-inshops here in the U.S. and improving the customer’s e-commerce shopping experience worldwide.”
Gabbay explains that the company has been putting in the work to carefully examine the strong foundation of the brand’s business and invest money back into the retailer and marketing efforts while looking for the best-in-class licensees for key categories.
When looking to secure licensees for new and additional categories, Bluestar Alliance looks to embrace those that best fit the Scotch & Soda brand DNA to help elevate it to the next level. Currently, the company is looking for cold weather, small leather goods, fragrances, global handbags, and U.S. footwear license partners. Scotch & Soda maintains a close relationship with its licensees, franchisees and distributor partners to act as one team — working quickly and taking every opportunity to ensure mutual growth and success.
“We are dedicated to diversifying our business portfolio by entering the lifestyle and accessories sector,” said Eran Kaim, chief product officer at Scotch &
Soda. “This expansion will be facilitated through collaborations with esteemed license partners, leveraging their expertise to curate a collection that seamlessly integrates with our brand aesthetic and identity.”
To build its brand awareness and connect with its audience in 2024 and beyond, Scotch & Soda has announced the company’s firstever brand ambassador. Tapping international pop icon, songwriter and actor Joe Jonas for the role, he will also lead the creation of a capsule collection debuting in fall 2024. Gabbay said this partnership is just the first of many to come and the company was drawn to his “creative and optimistic sense of style that pays homage to art” that embodies the Scotch & Soda spirit.
“Scotch & Soda has an incredible heritage, with enormous loyalty and new opportunity,” said Gabbay. “We are looking forward to implementing our management and strategic directives to usher Scotch & Soda into this new and exciting era.”
The store was founded in 1979 by David Morton and Craig Andrisen, who met in 1975 when they were both working as salesmen for other stores in the Denver area. They decided to become partners and open their own store, and the decision has paid off.
Like the Mitchells, Andrisen Morton also has a policy where family members have to work elsewhere for five years before joining the business, and for Lindsay, that meant Hugo Boss, Stanley Korshak and Nordstrom. Her first job was at the women's store as an entry-level salesperson, but when that store closed in 2009, she joined the flagship men's store, working with Andrisen as a buyer. “I worked under Craig for many years, we have a great relationship — he's like a second father to me,” she said.
But that will change this year when Andrisen exits the business as part of a seven-year buyout plan that the company had executed. David Morton has already retired and serves more as an adviser. “2024 will be Craig's last year and my dad and I will own Andrisen Morton together,” she said. “And then Dad will pass the store to me and allow me to take the reins and move it forward.”
What that will include, she said, is an ongoing evolution of the store's culture. “There's a reputation in retail that you work seven days a week — there's no work-life balance,” she said. “I want to make sure we have a family-first culture for our team.” That seems like a bit of a reach for Morton who is active in both the community — where she serves on the board of the Denver Botanic Gardens — and the industry, where she is president of the Forum Group, an elite group of non-competing specialty stores from around the country, including Mitchells, that shares information and advice. “It's important to be involved in the community and to serve these wonderful stores,” she said.
At Andrisen Morton, she has also spearheaded some changes in the merchandising of the store, moving Zegna to the front and adding a significant in-store shop for Cucinelli. And the store itself was also given a refresh, with new carpeting, revamped restrooms and other updates.
Looking ahead, much like Andrew Gushner of Boyds, Morton is hoping to expand Andrisen Morton's physical presence. “We're hoping for more brick-and-mortar growth,” she said. “What we do is really special and I believe we can go into underserved markets and offer the Andrisen Morton experience. That's a huge 2024 strategy of mine.”
Another long-standing men's store is Greenville, S.C.-based Rush Wilson
Limited. The store was founded by the 23-year-old Rush Wilson in 1950 to introduce natural shoulder New Englandstyle menswear to the Southeast. His son, Rush Wilson 3rd, worked in the store as a teenager, sweeping floors at 13 and selling his first suit at 15. After four years in the U.S. Army, he returned home and joined the family business.
James Rush Wilson 4th, known as Jay, who had worked for seven years for TD Bank, decided to come into the business as well. He joined in 2014 as an executive clothier.
Jay Wilson said after he had worked outside of retail for five years, he and his father had a discussion about whether he still wanted to work in the store, and the answer was yes. It took a while for the store to grow large enough to be able to warrant adding another salary, but when it did, he left the bank and joined. “We needed more help and our business had grown to the point where I could pay him,” Rush Wilson said. Jay worked with the longtime store manager to learn the ropes so he didn't have to report to his father.
“He's grown our business a lot,” Rush Wilson said of his son. “He has a great work ethic, he loves people and he knows how to manage. He learned a lot about finance at the bank and a lot of his friends from there have become customers.”
Jay Wilson said he has a few things on his to-do list to continue to evolve the business. He hopes to make some shifts in the physical space to better highlight popular brands, and he is researching how to improve the company's social media, marketing and email messaging. And with the business getting ready to celebrate its 75th anniversary next year, there are opportunities to highlight its history and legacy that the store intends to embrace.
With his son now firmly entrenched in the business, Rush Wilson can also start to think about succession. “He's the general manager, the buyer and now he's taking on the financial and accounting area. Once he's through with that, I'll be ready to go — but I'll still keep my eye on things,” Rush Wilson said.
Another third-generation men's store is McNeil and Reedy in Rutland, Vt. The business was founded in 1956 by James F. McNeil and his friend George Reedy who had worked together in the local department store. Today, the shop is run by twin brothers Jim and John McNeil and Jim's son Casey is also an integral part of the team.
Casey McNeil said he'd been working in the store pretty much his whole life and fit his first suit at the age of 15, without using any measurement tools. Although he earned a degree in finance at college, he decided to return to the family business after the pandemic because he was seeking “a slower pace of life.” Since joining, he has spearheaded modernizing both the store itself, exposing an old tin ceiling that had been covered by cardboard for years, and adding new brands, including some higher-priced labels.
The McNeils took the opportunity to renovate the location while the store was forced to close during the pandemic. “I pitched the idea to my dad and uncle when the doors were closed,” he said. “I felt so passionate that I was ready to self-fund it to see it through.
“We're staying true to our history but we've added a lot of new things such as watches and even maple syrup,” he continued. “We're in Vermont so how can you not sell maple syrup? We're here to serve customers.” He has also started hosting events, such as bourbon tastings and roll-your-own-cigar nights to draw customers to the store. Even if they don't purchase something that night, he said, it serves to introduce the store to potential shoppers and hopefully give them a reason to return.
“I want to bring people out, even if they don't want to shop,” he said.
He attributed the store's longevity to superior customer service, a hallmark of most successful men's stores. McNeil and Reedy is well known for its tailored clothing — it stocks the largest selection of suits, sport coats and tuxedos in the state and continues to have an on-site tailor
— but Casey McNeil's goal is broader than that. “People know to come to us if they need a suit or a tuxedo, but not for a dress shirt or bathing suit. We want to rebrand as a real men's store.”
And he believes the store's unique positioning can work outside of Rutland as well. “I want to grow beyond a 30-mile radius,” he said.
In the case of all of these retailers, succession of the family business appears to be ensured thanks to the addition of the younger generation. But what happens when there are no family members to which to pass the torch?
Dana Katz, owner of Miltons, the Store for Men, which operates three stores in Massachusetts, is the grandson of the founder, Isadore Katz, who opened the first location in Quincy, Mass., with his sons Milton and Nathan in 1947.
Although Miltons continues to thrive, Dana Katz said his two children have opted not to join the family business. He said he and his wife took a couple of weeks off this summer and it was an eye-opening experience, since he has rarely left the salesfloor over the course of his career.
So as he ponders the future, he's exploring options that could work for him as well as the store. “I'm looking to replace myself in a buying capacity and assume a more-senior role,” he said. And ultimately, he could see entrusting Miltons to some of its long-time employees. “I'm very fortunate, I have a great team in place and they think and function like they own the business.”