How menswear retailer Rothmans has avoided the department store death spiral

Menswear retailer Rothmans has been around for decades, and continues to see sales grow every year. It’s also become a well-known destination for media personalities and entertainment industry designers.

It also helps that Rothmans is in a part of retail that’s especially hot right now. “I don’t know if I’m the first to say this, but menswear is the new womenswear,” said Ken Giddon, the president and owner of the company.

But it’s not enough to just be selling products in a popular sector. According to Kiddon, vibe and assortment are even more important. “I would say the key is hospitality. Think of it as a restaurant or a hotel,” he said.

Similarly, while other stores focus on trimming down their inventory, Rothmans has gone the opposite way. “As a small business, we watch our cash flow very carefully, but we believe in inventory,” he said.

Still, Giddon said, being ahead of the trend curve also helps. “People care about what they’re wearing now, and young people are so into it,” he said. “That’s probably one of the benefits of social media.”

Here are a few highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Going from discount to higher-end
“We started as a discounter, and then there were tons and tons of discounters in New York — if you remember the names like Mo Ginsburg and BFO and NBO and then along came Men’s Warehouse and a few of these other guys that are now since out of business. And we started to see that, as our customer was getting older — the younger guys were getting older [and] they wanted a little better stuff — we just kept edging up and up. And there was never a moment where we said we’re not going to discount anymore. Our thinking was, we always wanted to provide the best value for people. Our customer was the key. So we always thought about: How can we make their shopping experience best? And ultimately, we kind of got [to]: Well, maybe our guy isn’t really just looking for the lowest price — He’s looking for the best value. Our modus operandi was always: let’s just treat our guys the best we can.”

A focus on the in-store experience
“I would say the key is hospitality. Think of it as a restaurant or a hotel, and welcome people to our house. And we’re pretty laid-back and friendly guys, so we try and communicate that. Like, the first thing I say when someone starts working for us is: ‘Please, please, please don’t say, Can I help you?’ Because that’s not what we do. We want to welcome them to our place, and we want them to enjoy the experience. So before we start talking about, what are you looking for? Just welcome to the place, feel the place. And there’s a certain casualness about it.”

Why Rothmans invests in inventory
“There are a few great things about being independent, and one is not having to go by industry metrics. And you carve your own way. I was thinking as I was preparing for this podcast — I said, he’s probably going to ask me [about] sales per square foot and inventory turn and stuff like that. And we don’t think about that at all. You know, as a small business, we watch our cash flow very carefully, but we believe in inventory. We do not like when somebody walks in and can’t find five suits in their size or a pair of pants in a size 40 waist.”