Clothing retailer Le Chateau is rebranding its menswear to appeal to working professionals who want affordable quality and will launch online shopping as part of its growth strategy.
“The objective is really to upgrade the brand, better quality–obviously always with value pricing–and appeal to a young professional who maybe can’t afford $600 or $700 suits,” said company president Emilia Di Raddo.
Le Chateau’s menswear will be relaunched this fall and will continue into 2011, Di Raddo said Wednesday after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Le Chateau expects to offer a 100% wool suit that costs about $350, because men want “quality,” said company chairwoman Jane Silverstone Segal.
Le Chateau is moving away from trendy fashion and will follow the same rebranding strategy that it has used to rework its women’s clothing selection, which accounts for 60% of its business.
Di Raddo described Le Chateau’s clothes as “unique” rather than trendy and said the company is following Canada’s aging demographic and wants to keep them as customers.
The Montreal-based company wants to move its strategy online and will launch a website on Oct. 1 for shoppers in Canada and the United States.
“It serves as a great vehicle for marketing, for advertising a brand, something that we have not been aggressive about for the last six or seven years,” Di Raddo said.
During that time the company was upgrading and expanding its stores and upgrading the quality of its merchandise, she said.
The online offerings will basically match what’s being offered in Le Chateau stores.
“Our objective is to try to duplicate the experience that our customers have in our store today; to give it to them online and hopefully it will drive the customer to the store.”
Silverstone Segal noted that traffic remains soft in stores despite some improvements to the economy and that Le Chateau plans to open eight new stores this year and renovate 15 to 20 existing stores.
