The man in the Brooks Brothers suit is an icon of American popular culture. But the man in the Brooks Brothers' executive suite is an Italian businessman named Claudio Del Vecchio.
Mr. Del Vecchio, who bought the 191-year-old apparel chain in 2001, popped into Toronto last week to launch the retailer's latest store - one of about 330 worldwide and the second in Canada, after a Vancouver outlet opened earlier this year. He belongs to the family behind the Luxottica eyewear group, but his demeanour does not suggest a silver-spooned Euro-heir.
Instead, the 52-year-old, whose rags-to-riches father was raised in an orphanage, comes across as a soft-spoken striver.
Isn't Brooks Brothers a quaint anachronism in this age of casual attire?
People looking for excuses not to shop at Brooks Brothers might think that way. But we normally hear the contrary. We keep hearing that we are on the top of fashion, that we are the top of innovation.
But didn't you want to pull Brooks Brothers back to its roots in suits and dressy apparel?
We wanted to make sure that component of Brooks Brothers was going to be revealed, but we are also proud of the fact we invented business casual. We invented the blazer, we invented the buttoned-down shirt, we invented the chino pants. Contrary to many beliefs, we welcome the casualization of working because we can be as strong there as we are with suits.
So what was the problem before you bought the chain in 2001?
It was a lack of understanding of what they had. In the minds of previous management [Marks & Spencer PLC], Brooks Brothers was suits, and when the world went casual, they were running scared and looking for a different customer than they had. In the process, they lost the one they did have. It made nobody happy because they never gained the new customer, and they lost the old one.
Don't you have to get more young people to buy your product?
They do. We gain more customers every day. Every customer we gain is a young customer. We have a nice line of boys' wear. Of course, we are important for people who work and if you are a student at university, there are more choices today - but we are still one of those choices.
Is the recession devastating for your end of the market?
For everybody, us included. We are probably managing a little better than other people, but it has affected us as well.
Why are you able to cope a little better?
The kind of customer we have might not be as affected by the economy. Also, there is the realization that we offer real value. The brand, we like to think, is a consequence of what we do, rather than the other way around - as with most other brands. It starts from what we are. People are also looking more for an investment now with their shopping and they find that in Brooks Brothers.
Is the retail market as dire as it was six months ago?
We don't see any change at this point. Hopefully, November, December will be better. Actually, we didn't do too bad last year until November, December. We were up last year at this time, so we received our share of what was happening later than other people.
We finished with same-store sales down 10 per cent at the end of our fiscal year, which was July 31. If you look at our direct competition, the better department stores, we should be very happy.
Is Canada just an extension of the U.S. market?
