This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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At 46 years old, classic American sportswear brand J.McLaughlin isn’t afraid of change. That’s thanks, in large part, to Mary Ellen Coyne, who’s been the company’s CEO since 2016.
“I’m firmly a leader who believes in testing and learning,” she said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast.
In the last seven years, she’s had “a field day” leading improvements to the brand’s products, processes and overall presentation, she said. “We’ve re-platformed every segment of the business, and it’s had a tremendous impact on the growth of the brand.”
This year alone, the company underwent its first-ever brand refresh, which included overhauling its logo and digital presence.
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Also in 2023, a large focus was on opening stores, with reaching new consumers as the goal.
“Customer acquisition is our No. 1 opportunity for growth,” Coyne said.
Currently, J.McLaughlin has 173 store locations. It plans to open 10-12 more in each of the next three years, bringing its total store count to more than 200. In early December, it opened its first store dedicated to menswear, in Palm Beach, Florida. Stores now account for three-fourths of its sales, while 1% of sales are driven through its one retail partner, Dillard’s, and the remainder are made online.
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Below are additional highlights from the interview, which have been lightly edited for clarity.
A 3-pronged strategy for opening stores
“We have a three-pronged strategy. First, geographically, we know that we’ve penetrated the East Coast in a significant way, with Florida being our No. 1 market on the East Coast. And we are comfortable with our presence on the West Coast. So right now, our focus is in the middle of the country. We recently opened in Oklahoma City, and we are opening in two weeks in Omaha, Nebraska. And what we’ve found is there are these incredible, lovely smart, affluent women who are underserved in retail in those towns. The [second] thing that’s been super interesting for us since the pandemic is the geographic diversity we’re seeing. … People moved into new markets or are spending more time in markets where they had previously only spent weekends, and that has had a significant impact on [where we’re opening stores]. … And the third prong for us, which is in the 3- to 5-year plan, is opening stores internationally. We’re very excited about going to seaside resort towns, whether it be in Portugal or in the U.K. We’re starting to look at how we can take the formula that has been so successful here and replicate it.”
Behind the business metrics
“Roughly 75% of our sales every year are done through repeat customers, and they are usually shopping more than two and a half times a year — so, it’s very high frequency and very high AOV. … We run a full-price business — over 80% of our sales are done full-price. And we have a very high initial markup, which leads to a very high maintained margin in the very high 70s. We have, as I mentioned, high AOV and high LTV, which allows us to have a lower cost to acquire. And we are generally profitable at every first purchase. Every single one of our stores is also profitable.”
Hitting refresh
“We spent so much time and energy working on all of the basic things. We got to the point where we were saying, ‘The product looks great, the stores look great, the presentation is good, the catalog is working, and digital is working, but how are we going to really do something transformative?’ Customer acquisition is our No. 1 opportunity for growth because we know that, once we get them, they will stay with the brand. So for the first time ever, we hired an outside marketing firm — we hired Trey Laird. … The first time we had breakfast with Trey, he said to us, ‘Wow, usually brands call me when they’re in trouble. You guys are knocking it out of the park.’ And we said, ‘We know, but we just want more people to know.’ Trey shot the fall campaign. … He encouraged us to do out-of-home wild postings, in terms of marketing channels. And he helped us reset … our core brand strategy. He came in and studied the brand’s history, and he looked back to move [us] forward. The logo that we went with had been used by the brand in the ’80s.”