Jimmy Au’s, the Beverly Hills clothing direct marketer and store tailored for men 5′ 8″ and under, is looking to broaden its size through an online store later this year.
For the past four years, the company has had an informational Web site at http://www.jimmyaus.com to direct traffic to the store as well as inform visitors of its clothing selection and design philosophy. But Au thought the time was right to bring the company’s offerings to a more full sized audience.
Au hopes this site and other marketing initiatives will bring the company to the $3 million revenue mark this year, though the upscale marketers is not exactly sure what to expect.
“Maybe the $400 to 500 suits (the slowest sellers in his store) might do better there since online users may be less affluent than regular customers,” he says, noting that his customers often travel across the country to shop at the store.
The company began in the late 1960s when Au started selling suits door-to-door, says his son Alan Au, vice president with the company.
Then, after Jimmy Au got married, he settled down and opened the store in 1975 and soon began catering to men such as jockeys who would tend to require clothing in smaller sizes, he says.
Soon, the elder Au built up a clientele of more than 13,000 men, which his son says are very loyal. “We have some customers in their 80s who have been with us since the beginning,” Alan Au says.
In addition to running the store, Au began direct marketing efforts, including regular postcard mailings to customers. Those mailings — promoting things like different clothing styles and periodic sales — range in size from as few as 500 pieces to 1,500.
On top of that, the firm sends out a bimonthly paper newsletter, something he plans to keep even with the online store. “There’s something about a tactile newsletter that you can take with you,” he says.
Just the same, Au, who relies very heavily on presorted first class, has some issues with the U.S. Postal Service, explaining that over the past few months mail that was supposed to promote weekend sales didn’t always make it there in time, and that hurt business.
But Au denies this has anything to do with opening the online store, which he hopes will be ready by Father’s Day.
In addition to launching the online store, Au is looking to target other groups of short men such as pilots of some smaller airlines.
“They have to be short in order to fit into their cockpits,” he says.
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