Grafton Fraser buys Jones New York’s stores in Canada

Canadian menswear company Grafton Fraser Inc., the privately held owner of chains such as Tip Top Tailors and Mr. Big & Tall, has acquired all 35 Jones New York retail stores across Canada.

The move will allow the brand to survive in Canada even though its US stores are closing, highlights the ‘Financial Post’.

“My senior executives grew up in department stores with this brand,” said Dave McGregor, CEO of Grafton Fraser.

Tip Top Tailor’s owner will run Jones New York stores that “were profitable”

The transaction will rescue those Jones New York Canadian stores “were profitable, (and) they did a significant amount of volume,” according to McGregor. In a January report, private equity firm Sycamore Partners said it would close the Canadian outlets along with 92 stores in the US by the end of 2015 as it sought strategic alternatives for the brand.

Men’s clothing retailer Grafton Fraser Inc., which runs Tip Top Tailor, said Wednesday it has acquired 35 Jones New York women’s wear stores that had been expected to close – and plans to expand to at least 50 outlets in the next five years.

In April, Authentic Brands LLC, a brand development and licensing company, bought the Jones New York brand and associated trademarks for an undisclosed amount.

In spite of tough competition from the likes of H&M and Forever 21, Jones New York’s standalone retail stores did very well, McGregor said.

Grafton Fraser said it has signed a long-term agreement to enable Jones New York to launch an online selling site. It has a deal with Authentic Brands Group, which purchased Jones New York in April, to operate Jones New York e-commerce in Canada, reports the ‘Globe and Mail’.

Jones New York, a privately held women’s clothing company that had announced in late January that it would close all 127 of its retail stores, including the Canadian locations, plans to introduce an e-commerce site in March, Dave McGregor, chief executive officer of Grafton Fraser, said in an interview.

New focus on older women to regain market share

As highlighted by market insiders, Jones New York plans to focus on an older demographic than the teenagers and twenty-somethings to which many of the foreign cheap-chic chains cater.

With this aim, Jones New York, known for its career wear for women 30 to 50 years old, will add more coats and jackets to respond to customer demand for more outerwear in colder weather, advanced McGregor. Likewise, the brand will add shoes, handbags and lingerie to its offerings, he said.

This way, privately owned Grafton Fraser, which has been working on cashing in on the ever growing interest among men for fashion, is thus targeting the women’s market, which, over all, is larger than that of men’s.

Still, Jones New York is an iconic name in women’s fashion and performed relatively well in Canada, compared with other speciality chains, explained McGregor, adding that “I just didn’t want to see that brand disappear like others have in the past few years.”