S&K Famous Brands Announces Strategic Plan Initiatives
July 29, 2008RICHMOND, VA – July 25, 2008 – S&K Famous Brands, Inc. will execute several new initiatives to further the company’s new vision and strategic plan. These initiatives include:
• Strategic Advisors: S&K Famous Brands Inc. (dba S&K Menswear) has engaged Alvarez and Marsal LLC, a global performance improvement and turnaround
consulting firm to assist management in executing its strategic plan. Alvarez and Marsal will support management in rolling out merchandising and marketing
programs that target and appeal to contemporary, fashionable and youthful customers. Alvarez and Marsal will assist in the sale of assets no longer core to
the S&K Menswear’s operations, perform a strategic evaluation of the company and assist management in enhancing value for all stakeholders.
• Personnel Changes: S&K Famous Brands, Inc. has eliminated approximately 50 full-time positions in its Richmond corporate office, including a number of senior management roles. These positions were eliminated to reduce annual overhead costs by more than $3.3 million and improve the efficiency of the support services at the Richmond corporate office. This reduction will enable the S&K to better focus all financial and management resources on its brand and strategic plan execution.
• Store Location Realignment: The Company’s real estate strategy is to locate stores in attractive malls and lifestyle centers throughout the eastern U.S. S&K
Menswear will move aggressively to pursue early lease terminations in locations that no longer positively represent its brand strategy or do not generate an
adequate financial return.
• New Store Designs: S&K Menswear will continue converting its existing locations to the new store design successfully rolled out in several markets this past spring including Huntsville, AL, Atlanta, GA, Savannah, GA. In the coming weeks, two additional newly designed locations will open in Dayton, OH and Buford, GA, a suburb of Atlanta.
• Merchandise Realignment: The Company will continue to realign its merchandise through store-closing sales and will discontinue or reduce inventory in certain tailored clothing lines. These steps will allow the S&K Menswear to shift resources towards fashion-oriented, casual and better branded products that
have performed well in the past year. Suits will remain a core part of the Company’s offering. Dress furnishings, rental formalwear, and fashion sportswear lines will be expanded at a faster pace.
Joseph A. Oliver, III, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, “Our vision is to create a simple and enjoyable shopping experience where customers can buy dressy and casual menswear to fit their needs and their budgets. Our transition from your father’s suit store into realizing this vision is being rapidly accelerated. We are committed to investing our resources aggressively into becoming the store with the service and style our customers demand.”
S&K Famous Brands, Inc. is a retailer of value-priced menswear operating 219 stores in 26 states reaching from the East Coast to Texas and from Maine to Florida. They offer a complete line of men’s apparel.
For more information, find a location or make a purchase on-line visit www.skmenswear.com.