Syms’ best customer was an educated customer
That was the off-price clothier’s catch phrase back in the 70s (seems everyone who lived in the New York Tri-state area back then has repeated that phrase upon learning Syms filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday.
It’s rare we talk about single-channel sellers at Multichannel Merchant, but it seems single-channel was a part of its demise. As was the off 2009 acquisition of Filene’s Basement (and the merger of some of its 46 stores into cross-branded locations).
CEO Marcy Syms summed it all up in this press release. Off-price clothiers became a dime a dozen, and Syms failed to differentiate itself. Sure, there were free suit offers, but Jos. A. Bank seemed to offer those every day. And the clothing selection for men? Let’s put it this way – last time I shopped my local Syms was in 2009, to find clothes for an 80s party.
Syms fell off my radar. Even the addition of the Filene’s Basement brand didn’t make me want to trek there to look for clothes… heck, I don’t even know if Filene’s Basement carried men’s clothes!
Back to the catch phrase: Syms’ best customer may have been an educated customer, but today’s educated customer goes to Google.
