Sign In
Free Newsletter
Jos. A. Bank now renting tuxedos
Listen to this article
Hampstead-based retailer Jos. A. Bank announced today it plans to go into the tuxedo rental business with a test launch in about 5 percent of its stores this month.
By the end of spring — just in time for high school proms and the start of wedding season — the company plans to offer tuxedo rental in half of its 474 stores.
The additional revenue could be a boon for a company that has grown impressively over the last five years. In that time period the men’s clothier has added nearly $400 million in sales and approximately 2,100 jobs. Last year, it ranked No. 14 on Forbes Magazine’s list of America’s top 200 small companies.
Jos. A. Bank has partnered with a national distributor that will own the inventory and deliver the orders to stores. That reduces the required investment and risk associated with starting up a new operation, CFO David E. Ullman said in a statement.
Ullman said he expects the sales volume will add to the stores’ operating margins but noted the gross profit rate will be lower than if the company had invested in its own merchandise. But, he said, the tuxedo rental business has the potential to “generate significantly higher gross margins if we choose to invest in our own infrastructure in the future.”
