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Century 21 was once known as the go-to New York City destination for bargain hunters looking to find a treasure amid racks of off-price clothes. But the pandemic had a negative impact on the company, which was overstretched with 13 stores, and it was forced to close down in 2020.
But according to Larry Mentzer, COO of the newly relaunched Century 21, plans for the store’s big comeback were already being laid out before it even closed.
“Once the decision was made, that we needed to permanently close the business, it was probably that same day or the next day that the conversation started about reopening the business and relaunching the brand,” Mentzer said on this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast. “We are fortunate that we have passionate owners that just have a love for New York City, a love for retail and a love for the Century 21 brand, which was not only a New York City institution, but a family institution.”
Mentzer and Judy Duzich, vp and general merchandising director of Century 21, joined the Glossy Podcast to talk about the store’s grand reopening in May of this year. Lots of changes were made, according to Duzich, including paring the retail fleet down from 13 stores to just one.
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Below are additional highlights from the discussion which have been lightly edited for clarity.
Simplifying the treasure hunt
Mentzer: “Listen, no one wants a deal that they have to work for. Not today. So it might be 50% off of retail, but if I have to stand in line an hour to pay for it, my time is worth more than the savings. So we’ve got to make it easy for the customer. When they come to Century 21, It can’t be that they need to spend the whole day there. It needs to be a quick walk-in and find something amazing. And I’m gonna get out of the store quick and want to come back. We’ve put a lot of technology in, whether it’s the self-checkout or just the whole new POS system, to take those pain points and that friction away for the customer and really try to make it easy for her or him to get out of the store.”
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The potential for future stores
Duzich: “In the past, we did see that our top doors were very city-focused, in urban areas. So moving forward, we won’t be looking at obscure areas; we need to go to the appropriate areas, especially with what we’re carrying today. [We now have] a better assortment, with new and emerging brands, almost a little bit of a cooler factor. And we know that we need to be in the appropriate areas to sell this type of merchandise. So we’re looking differently as we go forward. We could go to larger cities, if need be, we could go to Miami, we can go to L.A. That would be our customer base.”
The importance of variety
Duzich: “Every day, we get new deliveries. We try to keep it constantly rolling in, with new products and [not] too much depth. So it could be smaller orders from a variety of brands and designers. [It’s about] constantly having that ever-changing churn of newness coming in. And it works well. It really does. There’s an excitement in that, as well. If you don’t buy it right there, it’s going to be gone. It definitely keeps the customers coming.”
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