Today's Man

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Today's Man (Ticker: TMAN) was a retailer chain of Apparel (men's wear).

Today's Man, Inc. used to be a chain of men's apparel stores operated 25 retail stores in the larger NYC area. I liked to shop there because they offered a wide selection of low-cost but good-quality merchandise. The store was large (about 25,000 square feet) and offered a large selection of suits in the price range between $50 and $200. In addition to suits, they also sold many other items like shirts, ties, socks, leather jackets and belts. In do not recall they ever carried items for women.

One of of the reasons for their success were their competitive prices. A suit a TMAN cost considerably less than what other stores were asking. It was also very convenient, you just went there and knew to find all items you would want to buy. As the store catered exclusively to men, the atmosphere of the store was very special- more quiet and relaxed than at Sears for example.

Items were structured into two categories:

low priced items, carrying the "Today's Man" label
and higher priced brand names (still at a discount in comparison to regular retailers)

This was a brilliant strategy to keep prices low.

I understand that during the 1970s Today's Man grew steadily and gradually Today's Man opened larger and larger stores. About one-third of all its clothing was private label. By 1990 Today's Man had converted all its existing stores to superstores and sales had reached $100 million. To continue expanding, raise working capital, and pay some debts, Today's Man became a public corporation in 1992 (symbol TMAN). The stock prospectus described the average superstore as having about 25,000 square feet with the following merchandise: 8,000 men's suits, 3,000 sports coats, 15,000 ties, 15,000 dress shirts, and 10,000 pairs of casual or dress pants.

In the early 1990s, as Today's Man entered the New York City area, it did well financially. Sales continued to increase until 1993, despite of an overall negative trend in men's apparel. Starting in 1993, Today's Man experienced some real setbacks. By November 1995 the company had reversed its expansion position and began retreating. In early February 1996 the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A combination of soft demand for men's business attire, management's overambitious plans and mistakes, money problems, and tough competition led to Today's Man decline. The company continued to downsize and restructure, but did not succeed. They went out of business on April 24, 2003.