Dive Brief:
- Former New York & Co. CEO Greg Scott will be CEO of Express and Bonobos owner Phoenix, effective Feb. 19.
- Phoenix, a joint venture of Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties, Centennial and brand equity and management firm WHP Global, bought the brands out of bankruptcy in June for $174 million.
- Scott led New York & Co., rebranded in 2018 as RTW Retailwinds, for a decade before leaving in 2020. In the past two and a half years he has been CEO of The Boutique Brands. Before that he was Fashion Nova’s chief merchant.
Dive Insight:
Express, more than four decades old, was once a stalwart of L Brands’ portfolio. Bonobos, not yet two decades old, was once a darling of the DTC boom.
Each has been on bumpy roads in recent years. L Brands sold Express in 2007, the same year Bonobos was founded. At the time of Express’ bankruptcy last year it was in turnaround, with plans to upgrade stores. Bonobos was 10 years old when it was snapped up by Walmart for $310 million. The retail giant, which had been accumulating a number of DTC brands at the time, began off-loading them a few years later.
Since 2023, when Express and WHP Global partnered to acquire Bonobos for $75 million, the fates of Express and Bonobos have been intertwined.
Scott’s experience spans traditional and direct-to-consumer apparel retail. The Boutique Brands, for example, is a portfolio of DTC labels owned by investment firm Digital Fuel Capital. In a statement, he said there’s an “opportunity to build a powerful platform, blending best-in-class retail, e-commerce, and experiential to meet the modern consumer where they are.”
But given the involvement of three real estate companies, there is also likely to be an emphasis on brick-and-mortar retail. Simon and Brookfield’s co-ownership of J.C. Penney is viewed by most analysts as a way to keep those locations open at their malls. Express now runs 400 stores, including outlets, and Bonobos runs 50 Guideshops.
