CLIENT:
M E N S W E A R M A N U F A C T U R E R
Case Study No.2
Our client was a private investor who acquired a classic menswear tailored clothing company out of bankruptcy. It was a heritage brand that had once been prestigious, and his primary goal was to save the company and the jobs it provided to the local community in his small hometown. He retained us in advance of the deal closing with the intent of having someone immediate available to begin this critical turnaround when he closed on the acquisition.
THE ASSIGNMENT:
IDENTIFY & RECRUIT A SUITABLE CEO
[ by close of an acquisition deal ]
CONTEXT & CHALLENGES:
The buyer had no experience in the apparel industry. His primary concern was to hire a true expert in Men’s tailored clothing. This was critical in order to orchestrate a dramatic turnaround for this “dusty” company.
- The winning candidate needed to come with a combination of merchandising/product expertise to create the vision for the brand, sales talent, high level relationships and operational capabilities to establish instant credibility in the marketplace.
- Perhaps most important was strong leadership skills to shepherd the company through a challenging time of extreme change.
- The search presented several challenges: The company was in tough shape – they had a tremendous backlog of aged inventory; they had not introduced any updated design elements in years; the brand had lost its luster; sales had fallen off dramatically; and the location was remote.
- In the “plus column,” we were able to appeal to the entrepreneurial spirit of several qualified candidates who had been in the menswear arena and were excited by the opportunity to build a brand almost from the ground up, while still being able to leverage its heritage as one of the oldest menswear manufacturers in the U.S. Additionally the timing of a “made in America” heritage brand was very much on trend with what was happening in the men’s category. Also, the investor was committed to additional investment beyond the acquisition. He was willing to retro-fit the equipment as needed, and to hire some key executive level talent.
RESULTS:
- We successfully recruited a senior level executive from one of the largest and most prestigious menswear companies in the country. A 26-year veteran of the company, he relocated to the headquarters of our client company.
- Within the first month, our placement successfully recruited, through his network, a Creative Director and a Production Director. Both were key hires to ensure that the repositioning of the brand was successful.
- Our placement created a comprehensive business plan to evaluate capital investment requirements.
- He upgraded equipment where necessary.
- He retained most of the original employees of the company, saving hundreds of jobs in this small town.
- To keep the factory running during the repositioning period, he leveraged contacts and set up several private label manufacturing contracts. This helped maintain positive cash flow. Additionally, he cleared out old inventory aggressively.
- Once the brand image and product overhaul was complete, the company launched a robust e-commerce platform. This served to help bolster the company image and generate direct sales.
- The distribution strategy has been retooled as well, adding major department stores to the mix rather than simply the independent channels on whom the brand had focused previously. Sales have grown exponentially and there has been significant coverage in major press outlets.
