Tailored Brands Adds Chief Customer Officer to Its C-Suite
Tailored Brands is adding to its C-suite.
The parent company of Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moores and K&G Fashion Superstore is bringing Whit Alexander on board as executive vice president and chief customer officer, effective Feb. 24.
Alexander, who joins the company from McKinsey & Co., has experience in both marketing and consumer analytics, which was a key reason for the hire. He also worked for Best Buy and Target.
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“We are thrilled to have Whit join our team as we move into this next phase of our growth,” said Peter Sachse, chief executive officer of Tailored Brands. “Whit is a forward-thinking leader with a proven record of advancing retail marketing and personalization capabilities as well as fostering high-performing teams. His well-rounded view of retail environments and insightful approach to commercialization within omnichannel environments will help us accelerate efforts to build personalized experiences that speak to our customers and achieve new levels of brand loyalty.”
He said that originally, the search was for a chief marketing officer, but as the process advanced, Tailored Brands realized it would be best to attach analytics and brand strategy to the position to provide the “singular best view of the customer,” Sachse said. “It had to be the right person and we found the right person.”
He added that during the interview process, Alexander met with all the key executives within the company as well as its board of directors and they all gave him the green light. “We put him through the ringer,” he said with a laugh.
Alexander added: “Meeting this team, I was struck by how much the company’s values shaped our conversations, starting with customer-first. The possibilities for innovation combining bold creativity, data-driven insights and the company’s unique offerings are exciting, and I look forward to jumping in to foster the customer centricity that is already such a big part of the culture.”
They said since Alexander has not yet officially assumed the position, it’s too early to provide details on what the marketing message will be, but its tagline — “You’re going to love the way you look” — is surely to be retained.
Although the second half of that line — “I guarantee it.” — made its exit along with the company’s founder George Zimmer in 2013, the remaining message “resonates with young and old,” Sachse said. The goal, however, is to remind guys that Tailored Brands’ stores are more than just the go-to for weddings and special events.
“We have a dominant share of the tailored and weddings markets,” Sachse said, “but we also want to drive that second purchase, what we call ‘every wear.’ They’re buying cardigans and wovens, but they don’t consider us because for 50 years, we’ve dressed them for their weddings and first jobs. We also want to dress them for date nights and today’s work environment.”
Alexander said the idea of liking the way you look “speaks to all of us. In marketing, our goal is to inspire people through messaging and also through experiences.”
Tailored Brands has been operating under the radar for a while following a bankruptcy filing in 2020 and a slew of management changes. Sachse had stepped in as interim co-CEO in early 2021 and was named sole CEO in January of 2024.
When asked about the performance of the company, which operates more than 1,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, he pointed to a recent investor presentation from the ICR conference last month. The business had sales of $2.6 billion in fiscal 2023 with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $406 million. This was below fiscal 2022 when sales hit $2.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA was $477 million. The company attributed the dip to the fact that fiscal 2022 was the “year of the wedding.”
Of its divisions, Men’s Wearhouse accounted for 64 percent of sales, Jos. A. Bank 15 percent and Moores 7 percent. Tailored Brands currently holds the number-one position in tailored clothing, dress shirts and the rental market and its customer ranges in age from 35 to 64 with a median household income of $125,000, the presentation said.
Going forward, the company is focused on five strategic imperatives: building a world-class marketing engine, expanding its share of the tailored and rental business while accelerating sales of “every wear,” igniting its digital capabilities, localizing the customer experience, and offering “legendary” customer service.
“We’re getting more public and telling where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going,” Sachse said.
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