FREMONT, Calif. — Tailored Brands Inc., is making progress turning around the Jos. A. Bank division.
At the company’s annual shareholders meeting here Thursday, Doug Ewert, chief executive officer of Tailored Brands, said the division was stabilizing and he remains confident in the future of the brand. This came despite last week’s report of an earnings drop of 84.2 percent.
Interestingly, Ewert took time out to say a quick “hello” to company founder George Zimmer, who attended the meeting. Zimmer was fired as ceo in June 2013 and has since founded online suit and tuxedo rental company Generation Tux. Previous reports suggested that Zimmer had been eyeing a takeover of Tailored Brands, which then operated as Men’s Wearhouse, but he declined to comment.
At the meeting, chief financial officer Jon Kimmins echoed plans for the Jos. A. Bank business that were shared during last week’s call with Wall Street analysts. These included store closures and a realignment of the management team. He said Tailored Brands expects to close 80 to 90 full-line Jos. A. Bank stores by January and would exit the factory outlet business, which has 58 stores.
There was, he said, “a great future” for the brand.
This marked the first annual meeting of the firm under its new name of Tailored Brands, Inc., which is now a holding company. The corporation encompasses Men’s Wearhouse, Moores and K&G, which are each a house of brands, along with the Joseph Abboud designer business, and Jos. A. Bank, which the company bought in 2014 for $1.8 billion. It also has corporate apparel operations through Twin Hill in he U.S. and Dimensions, Alexandra and Yaffy in the U.K., and dry cleaning operations through MW Cleaners in Texas.