Menswear retailer Wilkes & Riley, an online brand launched in December by several former executives of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., will open its first store in October at The Shops at Kenilworth in Towson, just steps away from a Jos. A. Bank store.
After an initial slow period, sales have been strong for Bel Air-based Wilkes & Riley, which sells classically style men's apparel for business professionals, said Steve Marshall, CEO and a former divisional vice president of merchandising for Jos. A. Bank, on Monday. Repeat customers now account for about a third of the business, he said.
"That told us we had something here; they appreciate the value and the quality," Marshall said.
Marshall said his company was not looking to open a store this year but was approached by Kenilworth mall owner Greenberg Gibbons, which is investing $20 million in a center renovation that will bring in Trader Joe's grocer next year.
"It's an opportunity to reach customers we are not already reaching," Marshall said. "From Jos. A. Bank, we know what that center means. It's a great center."
The Wilkes & Riley store will open Oct. 10 in a 2,900 square-foot space on the mall's first level. The Jos. Bank store, in the mall since 1987, had long been a top store for the former Hampstead-based menswear chain, Marshall said. Jos. A. Bank was acquired by Men's Wearhouse in 2014 for $1.8 billion and now is run as a Men's Wearhouse brand.
Wilkes & Riley had $500,000 in sales its first year, Marshall said. Suits, which are made in Italy, have accounted for more than half the sales.
"We're trying to reach the customer that appreciates quality and wears suits four or five days a week," Marshall said.
He said the company is considering opening a second store next year, likely somewhere along the Interstate 95 corridor.