FROM OUR JANUARY ISSUE: BOYDS. FOR LIFE.
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Kent Gushner is proudly showing me around his magnificent downtown Philadelphia store, renovated right before Covid and totally reconfigured since my last visit. Asked why they moved things around, he explains that to ensure their future, they needed to play up different categories. “We moved women’s apparel, handbags and women’s shoes to the main floor. Designer and evening bags have become standout businesses. Men’s sportswear and furnishings are featured on the second floor; sportswear had been strong since Covid but is somewhat less strong now since closets are filled with casual. Tailored clothing (always and still our backbone) has had a great early fall on the third floor. Also on three: gentlemen’s luxury sportswear, a growing business as we transition men to elevated casual work attire.
Above: The Boyds Boys: Alex, Andrew and Kent Gushner.
“With these changes, we’ve made it clear that we’re entrenched in the women’s business. We project women’s to reach half of our total volume within three years. We weren’t making that statement previously, no matter what we did on the third floor. And while a small percentage of our male customers ask why we moved their men’s store, tailored business is still showing increases. I’m enthused but not deceived.”
Boyds’ new brand strategy (Boyds. For Life.) combines elements of its 85-year heritage (exceptional customer service, free alterations, spacious top floor tailor shop with natural lighting, tailoring outposts on all selling floors, their own parking) with forays into the future (a fast growing e-comm business, new marketing techniques including billboards and social media videos, and new in-store events like this year’s holiday marketplace, at which non-competing vendors showcase their giftable wares on the fourth floor). Clearly, it’s Boyds’ creativity and willingness to test new concepts (a highly-rated restaurant, a leased fine jewelry department, a glossy store magazine, a pop- up store in Ardmore) that keep customers curious and coming back.
THE BOYDS’ BOYS
Kent lists his biggest challenges since the pandemic as a fall-off in foot traffic (“dollar volume remains strong but on fewer transactions.”) and recruiting and retaining new staff. That said, he agrees that his smartest move of late was putting trust in his two sons: Alex (at the store since 2014 after working at Zegna) and Andrew (at Boyds since 2020 after working at Bergdorf). As young as they are, both boys have the intuition, the work ethic and their father’s blessing to initiate change. Alex, 33, does most of the men’s buying; Andrew, 26, handles marketing and some women’s.
Sitting down with Gen 4, I was truly impressed by their knowledge, candor, and composure.
“Tailored clothing is still our most important business but it’s not what it was and might not be again,” confides Alex. “Fortunately, we still have a strong clothing culture in Philadelphia, supported by all the law firms that have reopened downtown. But while suit business has been healthy post-pandemic, we realized we had to grow elevated sportswear to inspire a new way of dressing.
“Designer sportswear is not clicking the way it had been, so we’ve invested in several (mostly Italian) artisanal brands (Baldassari, Mandelli, Fioroni, Pescarolo), which are performing really well. These were not household names when we brought them in, but they’ve acquired a strong following. We built this business gradually so that our sales associates grew to believe in it; they now suggest these labels as upscale alternatives to customers no longer wearing suits to the office.”
Alex intimates that prices from certain luxury brands have gotten out of control. “Even those customers who can afford it don’t want to spend the way they once did. To buy a basic cashmere quarter zip for $1350 that was $995 last year when a beautiful version from a lesser-known Italian brand is $695 makes no sense to some customers. Add to that the fact that most designer brands are selling direct to consumer, and it’s clear why we’ve decided to focus on the artisanal brands that offer beautiful product, quality make, and tremendous value.” (Editor’s note: Boyds still has a huge business in Zegna, Canali, Cucinelli, etc.)
When asked what skills they learned from their prior work experience, both boys stress listening, communicating, and being part of a team. “I was on the e-commerce team at Bergdorf for a year,” says Andrew. “I had intended to stay five years but along came Covid. At first, my main job was to get samples from vendor showrooms to Bergdorf ’s photo studio, but I soon picked up some helpful tricks, like leveraging vendor imagery to speed up activation. I was exposed to enough technology to realize that our Boyds’ website was lagging years behind. We’re now set up for the future. Working with Jenna, our new marketing manager, it took the two of us about a year to get it off the ground. It was largely about bandwidth.”
Alex jumps in here to sing his brother’s praises. “He’s being too modest. If it weren’t for Andrew, we wouldn’t have an e-comm business. He is a great thinker, a good listener, extremely deliberate and strategic. He’s not only modernized our e-commerce, but he’s rebranded our entire store, taking our image in a whole new direction. We expect to get a lot of mileage out of ‘Boyds. For Life.’”
The new suburban Boyds features sunlight, talented tailors, vendor appearances (shown here, Richard Bennaim from Paris with his fabulous Richard Grand cashmere), and much elevated casual sportswear.
For his part, Andrew appreciates how truly welcoming Alex was when he first joined the business. “Alex is an extremely talented merchant, always finding new brands that resonate with our core customers. The best part of working together is that we’re also best friends outside of work! (‘Put your phone away, Alex.’ ‘No, I need to record you saying nice things about me; our parents won’t believe it.’)”
And speaking of parents, Alex recalls how surprised he was when he first spent time in the market and vendors would ask if he was Kent’s son. “Not everyone gets my dad,” Alex confides. “His demeanor is so serious, he dresses seriously, he takes his business seriously, so people don’t always see his quick wit and dry sense of humor. Yes, he can be tough when he needs to be, but he’s never rude or overbearing. Ask him anything and he’ll tell you exactly what he really thinks, a trait clearly inherited from his dad. He values honesty and can smell insincerity a mile away.”
What would the boys change about their dad if they could? They reply in unison: “He needs to take more time off!” And what’s the best advice he’s given them? Says Andrew, “There are lots of eyes on you, so always be positive role models. Keep the bar high. Whatever you ask of your employees, make sure you do yourselves.”
The conversation moves to what young shoppers are looking for these days. “In tailored clothing, it’s about fit and price,” says Alex. “If they’re coming to us, they want fit, which still means slim. We open at $995 with Munro suits, $695 for TailoRed sport coats. Also, young guys are loving the idea of custom: we do well with Trussini at under $2000. They also come to Boyds for tuxedos, and when they do, they’ve already shopped around: Suit Supply, Indochino…. Our sellers explain that with those sources, they pay for alterations on product that’s unlikely to hold up. Once we gain their trust, it’s Boyds. For Life.”
What in the men’s clothing market is Alex personally loving these days? He responds without hesitation: the color brown. “Few guys have brown in their closets. It’s been shades of blue and black for so many years now. It’s time to promote a new color.”
On the topic of trunk shows and special events, Andrew notes that success depends on various factors. “The less frequent, the more successful. An activation or build-out, like the shop we
recently built for a Thom Browne trunk show, works well.” Always helpful: appearances by a name designer or well-loved company rep (Franco from Bontoni! Kat from Brioni!). Alex adds that events should have a well-defined reason for being. “Prestigious brands, new brands (John Lobb footwear), reps bringing in extra product (lots of special sport coats at a recent Isaia trunk show), a portion of sales donated to a local charity, all these help elevate the event.”
Editor’s note: Philanthropy has always been an intrinsic part of Boyds’ company values. Its recipient for the next three years is Big Brothers, Big Sisters. The game plan, with a little help from the Philadelphia Eagles, includes fundraising, fashion shows, mentorships, and part-time jobs. Says Andrew, “The charity component is not to drive traffic but to represent our values, to show who we are as a company. It’s an essential part of being a family business.”
Another discussion revolves around vendor partnerships and market timing. “We have excellent vendor partners and few problems, or we wouldn’t be celebrating an 85th anniversary,” notes Alex. “My biggest complaint is that deliveries are too early. I’d love to set the whole cycle back, postponing deliveries to be more in tune with the selling season. It’s totally illogical to take in heavy fall goods when it’s hot outside, only to compete with markdowns in the majors when the weather finally turns. I suggest we as an industry totally re-set the cycle.”
In conclusion, Alex sums up what is most likely Boyds’ secret sauce. “It’s not the product: while beautiful, very little is proprietary; most luxury men’s stores carry essentially the same stuff. (Although as buyers, Andrew and I challenge ourselves to predict trends and create directional product.) Instead, it’s the in-store experience, the emotional connection between customers and sales associates/tailors, the way the owners treat their employees, all of this makes the magic that drives people to the store.”
LOOKING AHEAD…
On the new suburban store in Wayne, a suburb about a 45-minute drive from Boyds’ downtown flagship, Kent explains that after testing a pop-up shop in Suburban Square during the pandemic, they soon realized the benefits of a store in the suburbs. “We’d noticed an atrophy among customers who no longer came downtown to shop, be it for safety concerns or shifts to hybrid work. So we opened a permanent 10,000 square foot store in Wayne on September 22, and already, it’s doing well. Not only is it attracting customers who stopped shopping downtown, but it’s also attracting new shoppers. It’s half men’s and half women’s, more focused on casual than the main store. As we continue to manage this second location, we’re planning a third within the next three years.”
Like Family!
As much as I loved perusing the beautiful aspirational product throughout the store (I’m still dreaming about the red-soled Louboutin boots that caught my eye when first entering the store), the best part of my visit was meeting Boyds’ terrific team of sellers, tailors, and office staff. Chatting with so many employees who showed so much passion for their work was heartwarming. Here, a few of the talented people I met, many of them Boyds’ employees for decades.
Catching up with Brian (a 50-year Boyds’ veteran!) in the shoe department, I learned that sneaker business was slowing down a bit with an increasing focus on loafers, boots, fine leather/suede uppers on casual lug soles. Shoe lovers will flip over Boyds’ eclectic mix of luxury and streetwear brands, everything from Bontoni’s $1195 penny loafers to Alexander McQueen’s $790 sneakers, from Zegna’s $950 triple stitch sneakers to Magnanni’s $450 Hanson boots, from Comme des Garcons’ $150 low top sneakers to Santoni’s $1495 Oxford Brogues and Louboutin’s $895 patent loafers. (Brian’s secret to his longevity at Boyds: “Keep doing what you love; don’t ever retire!”)
In the tailor shop, managed by Felix Aloian, I met many talented cutters and sewers; some had been custom tailors in their home countries and can construct an entire suit from shoulder to cuff.
Sergio was recently photographed for a huge Boyds. For Life. billboard that just went up on the expressway. Now a virtual celebrity, Sergio would rather be working than signing autographs.
Also on the tailored clothing floor, I met Bruce and Tawana, Boyds’ customers for 62 years. The couple lives in NYC but when it comes to buying menswear, it’s always a trip to Philadelphia to shop at Boyds. “Nowhere else will do,” Bruce explains, without prompting. “Boyds is an amazing store.”
