TORONTO
— Buyers attending the second edition of the FashionNorth men's show
at the International Center here Aug. 14 to 16 were coming off a strong
spring/ summer selling season and expecting more of the same for fall/winter.
Sales at Harry Rosen's 15 stores across Canada were up 10 percent from a
year ago, despite fewer American tourists, according to company chairman
and CEO Larry Rosen.
The son of company founder Harry Rosen said FashionNorth is good for the
domestic men's wear industry as a networking venue, but is not a writing
show for him.
Jack Mitchell, author of Hug Your Customers and keynote speaker at
the show, said sales were up in "the low double digits" at Mitchells
in Westport, and at Richards in Greenwich, Conn.
"Our clothing at the upper end, like Zegna, Brioni and Oxxford, is
doing especially well, as are our better sport coats, particularly in the
last two or three months. We expect fall to be another great season as long
as the stock market remains strong."
The story was similar for the eight American buyers who accepted complimentary
travel and hotel accommodations from Meteor Show Productions, which organized
FashionNorth.
"It was a good show and Jack Mitchell's speech was outstanding,
David Abbott, general manager of A.K. Rikk's in Grand Rapids, Mich., said
“I had a tour of the Lipson Shirt factory and had no idea of the amount
of work that went into the products they supply us."
Abbott was equally impressed that Lui Sguazzin, vice-president of sales
at Lipson, introduced him to a new vendor, Laroque Agency, which imports
Flannel Bay trousers from Italy. "That would never happen in New York,"
he said. Despite not seeing anything earth shattering at the show, Abbott
said he was impressed with the caliber of retailers in Toronto, particularly
Harry Rosen, and believed the Canadian market is not one that should be
ignored by American apparel manufacturers
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His own sales were up 30 percent from a year ago, which he attributed to
a "fantastic" custom season with Zegna and Varvatos. "We
remodeled last year, so we have big numbers to beat, but we're positioned
well for fall." he said.
Owner Fred Knowles of Bonny &Gordon in Sacramento, Calif., was impressed
with the organization of the show but felt there was a lot of redundancy
as far as manufacturers were concerned. But I looked at the clothing line
of Samuelsohn, which I might earn, and I've worked with Empire but never
earned their sport coats.' He also liked the Lyle & Scott knitwear line
from Glen Argyle, which isn't earned in the U.S.
Knowles said his spring/summer business was the same as last year, but he
had a good fall/winter and would be happy with "a couple of points
higher this year."
David Levy, owner of Levy 's in Nashville, felt his trip to Fashion-North
was worth it, although many vendors didn't have a U.S. once list and several
lines weren't available south of the border.
"We were impressed with Strellson, which is no longer available in
the U.S because the company wants to returnto the U.S. market in a big way
whenthey're ready. And I saw some samples from Jack Victor, which confirmed
we made the right purchases from them. "I also noticed that the show
carried fewer denim lines than most U.S. shows. The Canadian market doesn't
appear to be as developed in denim as the U.S."
Levy said he's had a good year overall, with suit sales up more than sport
coats, although dressier sport coats are also doing well. Our open-to-buys
are flat and we'll be more aggressive in sportswear than clothing"
he said.
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