I’m Doubting Alden’s Future

[mhip]

This photo HAS to be AI generated.

Someone came up with some very clever prompts for MidJourney:

"Man on the left is wearing a green sportcoat, orange tie, and blue check shirt. His face should be 35% Scott Baio and 65% Anthony Scaramucci. He has a slightly pained expression on his face, as if the Miralax suddenly kicked in moments ago, and he notices a sizable line for the restroom."

He looks like a 10 pack a day guy who is also devoid of an upper lip...

 

[mebiuspower]

His father probably beat him... I sympathize why he needed the money !!!

 

[mebiuspower]

 

[mak1277]

Trouser fit gets an F

 

[dukenukem4ever]

wow he never even got a taste of that? terrible.

 

[Duke Santos]

wow he never even got a taste of that? terrible.

He's getting a taste of something a bit different these days.

 

[sargeinaz]

I agree at this point you buy Alden primarily for looks and then everything else is of an acceptable level (and arguably should be better for how much they’ve raised their prices). Every time I look at a comparable Crockett model, they look so much nicer made (if they actually are nicer made, I’ll leave that to people who know more than I do). However, I like the look of the Alden more than the comparable Crockett model.

Whether or not they can they can sustain the quality to price ratio they have, I think they’ll be just fine. The Rolex comparison was a pretty decent one I think (though I think Rolex are better quality wise in this comparison).

 

[comrade]

He looks like a 10 pack a day guy who is also devoid of an upper lip...

Probably not Lactose Intolerant.

 

[PeterHH2024]

I have good experiences with Alden. Although they are very expensive, so I cannot purchase the amount you own. They do seem to have increased prices quite significantly, but I most admit I really like some of their models, and I am not sure I can find an alternative that are available in Europe (grant stone also looks good, but only US based).

 

[Peter1]

I liked the Aldens I owned (Barrie last) but I sold them when I moved to WFH. Quality was perfectly fine; I freely admit I bought them for the aesthetics. If you like Alden's style, there's no direct substitute.

Seriously doubt Alden's future is shaky. The market for heritage luxe brands with built-in scarcity is insatiable. Worst case is a Kering or LVMH steps in and raises prices and quality, updates the lineup and cleans up operations, as happened with Church's.

 

[sussi]

I liked the Aldens I owned (Barrie last) but I sold them when I moved to WFH. Quality was perfectly fine; I freely admit I bought them for the aesthetics. If you like Alden's style, there's no direct substitute.

Seriously doubt Alden's future is shaky. The market for heritage luxe brands with built-in scarcity is insatiable. Worst case is a Kering or LVMH steps in and raises prices and quality, updates the lineup and cleans up operations, as happened with Church's.

I think if any of these corporations decides to take over Alden the quality would probably get even worse. Most of the stuff they take over they cut productions cost as much as possible and also rise the prices to maximise profit.

 

[Peter1]

I think if any of these corporations decides to take over Alden the quality would probably get even worse. Most of the stuff they take over they cut productions cost as much as possible and also rise the prices to maximise profit.

Not sure -- maybe "more consistent" is what I meant. I'm sure LVMH would modernize production as much as possible and add some QC. I will say the Church's I've seen since the buyout have been superficially "nicer" than before, even if I suspect the materials quality is lower. A big group can also bargain for better materials contracts and distribution terms.

Not saying this would be ideal for Alden but it's a potential outcome if finances get tight. I'm pretty sure that bigger fashion groups have been keeping tabs on Alden. I'm mostly speaking about Alden as a business case rather than what I want to happen. As I said, I was fine with the quality of the Aldens I had, but they were calf, not 1000-euro shell models either.

 

[Duke Santos]

I think if any of these corporations decides to take over Alden the quality would probably get even worse. Most of the stuff they take over they cut productions cost as much as possible and also rise the prices to maximise profit.

Yeah, I think Church's fate shows that quality would definitely go down, prices would go up and you'd see a distinct "fashionization" of the brand.

Right now, there's enough fanboys that Alden doesn't have to adapt, but I think that they will reach a tipping point in the coming years where Allen Edmonds construction and QC for Crockett & Jones pricing, will begin to bite them.

 

[Epaulet]

As far as I know, Alden's biggest challenge is labor. They're in an area with a legacy of shoemaking, but not a present reality of it.

It takes a long time to train one of their operators. When I've visited the factory, a large amount of the staff seemed to be close to retirement age. Local young people are understandably not enticed to start a career there. It just doesn't have the perception of job stability that it once did.

It's too bad that all of those millions of dollars were taken out of the business for Rick Hajjar to steal in the first place. If their priority was to reinvest in their operations, they could have modernized their equipment or offered better salary packages or even brought in some skilled workers from abroad.

Would have gone a long way towards employee recruitment and retention. And positively impacted QC and customer satisfaction. But I guess that wasn't the priority.

 

[CasuallyWorked]

Yeah, I think Church's fate shows that quality would definitely go down, prices would go up and you'd see a distinct "fashionization" of the brand.

Right now, there's enough fanboys that Alden doesn't have to adapt, but I think that they will reach a tipping point in the coming years where Allen Edmonds construction and QC for Crockett & Jones pricing, will begin to bite them.

I 100% prefer Alden over crocket and jones looks wise, but man the c&j QC is amazing, my conistons, moltons, pembroke,l and chilterns are all immaculate.