paul jardin usa, realizing that men shop for suits only on certain days, changed its business accordingly Once upon a time, Three Day Suit Broker was just like all the other men’s clothing stores. Operating under the name Paul Jardin USA, the company had stores in regional malls. It kept its doors open seven days a week and paid salespeople on commission. Then a critical realization sank in. “Most men who wear suits work Monday through Friday, and the last thing they want to do after work is go shopping,” explains Leo Shahinian, who co-owns the Woodland Hills retail chain with his father Sam and brother Shawn. His observations echo a national retail statistic that finds 70 percent of all shopping is done after 5 p.m. and on the weekends. “The other thing was that men typically shop with their wives or significant other, and the only time they really have together is on the weekends,” Shahinian said. Taking that information and running with it, the family-owned firm in 1992 moved out of the malls into stand-alone facilities; cut back its days of operation to Friday, Saturday and Sunday; took its sales force off commission; and changed the name of the company to better reflect the new philosophy. The result was growth almost immediately. From four stores in 1992, the chain has grown to eight stores, with four added in the past two years. Revenues doubled to about $15 million in the short period from 1997 to 1999. Shahinian credits the growth to the company’s reorganization, which reflects the changing shopping habits of its male consumers. “Even though people were making more money, the old ’80s adage of having and spending was not there. Traditionally, men were non-shoppers. But in the ’90s, they started acting like women becoming more bargain hunters regardless of their income. So we started catering to that attitude by carrying suits from $79 all the way up to designer brand names,” says Shahinian. Despite their more economical ways, men also wanted quality in all price ranges, Shahinian adds. That’s one reason the company decided to use the direct-sourcing method to acquire its inventory. Instead of going through middlemen, the Shahinians went directly to the finest fabric mills in Europe and Korea, bought the material and sent it to the manufacturer themselves. “Some of the manufacturers we use make suits for designers like Versace and Georgio Armani. So we’re getting the same quality workmanship, but our suits cost about one-third the price,” points out Shahinian. He says about 70 percent of the suits in the store are direct-sourced. The rest are the designer brands. “I’ve seen that [direct-sourcing], but it’s not typical,” says Jon Schallert, a Sorrento, Fla. management consultant specializing in independent retailers. “That tactic might give them a decided edge over price and selection. The chance to control the selection also makes it more of an exclusive type of clothing and harder to knock off.” Most competitive environment in U.S. Schallert says he isn’t surprised to see such out-of-the-box thinking in California, which he describes as one of the most competitive retail environments in the country. The Shahinian family made one other crucial modification in its retailing strategy. “Male retail customers always have the feeling they’re being suckered in. They buy something now, and then it goes on sale next week. That’s why our company will never have a sale,” asserts Shahinian. “That way they’ll have the peace of mind that what they’re paying today will be the same price as a month from now or the month before. We don’t have gimmicky sales to bring them in.” Instead, they offer quality and economically priced merchandise, a sales experience that is as hands-on as the customer wants, alterations typically completed in days rather than weeks and men’s accessories that includes everything but underwear and pajamas.
