Dive Brief:

• After being bought by Men's Wearhouse in June last year, CEO Doug Ewert has been working on revamping Jos. A. Bank's brand and promotional strategy. One of the main focuses has been scaling back some of Jos. A. Bank's aggressive discounts, including its buy-a-suit-get-three-free promotion.

• Same-store sales fell by 9.4%, including online orders, last quarter. An emphasis on selling more than suits and a new loyalty program are already paying off for the retailer. 

• The new owner also plans to update its styles to catch up to the slimmer silhouettes that are more fashionable and add clothing that works for men who don’t always have to wear a suit to work.

Dive Insight:

Jos. A. Bank’s buy-a-suit-get-three-free promotions and the quality of its apparel was lampooned on comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live last year, and its new owners want to bring things to less ridiculous levels. 

The retailer has already made the obvious changes—few men actually wanted to buy four suits at a time and it was often difficult for store staff to find that many for each customer. Mixing up the transactions to include shoes and accessories makes sense and is already paying off. Sales of footwear at existing stores rose 17% last quarter, and Jos. A. Bank also saw sales of slim-fit suits rise 41%. 

Although the changes could inflict pain in the short term, Ewert sees huge potential in the brand, with good reason. The company still makes its own suits, and if it can bring up the quality and style, that could be a differentiator. If, that is, it can shake the image of cheaper-than-paper-towels image promoted by the comedy show skit.

“Jos. A. Bank is a brand that just needs some updating, and we’re updating that brand as aggressively as we can,” Ewert told Bloomberg. “There’s a lot to talk about besides just price.”