The CM Graveyard: First Sartoria Partenopea... next J. Crew?

[Viral]

Valid points by many peeps but this ain't BizForum...............let's get back to StyleForum y'all!

 

[clee1982]

Do you think RL will survive this?

No idea but I certainly hope they do, even though I don’t buy much from them these days

 

[clee1982]

And I certainly hope Paul Stuart survive as well

 

[GeneralEmployer]

You say: “It’s in no one’s interest for these investments to fail.” This is true. However it isn’t in PE’s interest to be financially prudent either - if it was, deal after deal wouldn’t be run like the bust-out from Goodfellas.

Big A is right when he says it isn't in PE's interest to be financially prudent. But I think it's a lot different from Goodfellas (I'm sure bust-outs are purposeful at times, but it's difficult to guess at a number). In PE, there's just a significant incentive to take on risk. However, just because you're willing to run a high risk of busting out, doesn't mean you at all want to bust-out, or that it doesn't sting, even just a little, when it goes belly up.

While you may take issue with gdl's portrayal of PE types as people who wouldn't eat your baby for lunch (this is a whole other matter), he is more or less speaking factually about the financial aspects of the issue. I've been very much enjoying reading his posts, even if I disagree with him on some ancillary points. Yes, sometimes it makes sense to run a company into the ground, but the vast majority of the time it doesn't: you can only cash-in so much of your good faith (the exact phrase in English eludes me at the moment, somebody help me please, but basically it means you can only scam so much before your reputation is ruined among people in the know).

Loathing -- You have a bad habit of speaking authoritatively about a number of subjects and being dead wrong about mostly everything. Unlike a Marvel comic book, you say stuff that's plausible, but that's far more whacked-out when examined closely. You are a clear and present danger to StyFo community.

 

[IJReilly]

I worked for a famous consulting firm a decade ago. A lot of that was doing due diligence for PE acquisitions (after this experience I decided that life was not for me and took a much more relaxed career path). There were a lot of different kinds of people in the industry. Some thought long term, some short term. I've worked in many different fields in my life and people are driven by many different factors, so it's generally not a good idea to generalize to much. Multiple types of people exist in all walks of life. I think this is the explanation for the differing experiences being shared here. Different orgs have different cultures, even from year to year. Also incentives can be radically different given the situation. Some PE acquisitions are only suitable for smart buyers down the line, and thus they need to be run well in order to generate a good return. My experience is limited to the nordics though.

Often I think the macroeconomics behind all this are not given the due it deserves. Much of the PE and VC phenomenon seems to be driven by low interest rates and huge funds flooding these relatively small markets with money, since larger funds need returns and to be percieved as doing something materially different from index investing.

 

[Van Veen]

Brooks Brothers is permanently shutting down its shirt factory in NC.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article242769746.html

Outline.com

outline.com

Probably going to devastate the town, considering the population is 621 and the factory employs 150.

 

[clee1982]

which BB shirts are the "good ones", haven't tried in years, is Milano fit actually slim?

 

[smittycl]

which BB shirts are the "good ones", haven't tried in years, is Milano fit actually slim?

Don't have any left but I remember them fitting TTS but with almost no extra fabric. No 90's Seinfeld billowing.

 

[Spaghettimatt]

****. The Garland factory hits hard.

 

[jts287]

I wonder if that'll be the end of the BB Makers & Merchants shirts.

Anyway, I'm sure it's simpler to close a US plant than to face the truth that Red Fleece is garbage, outlet stuff is worse than garbage, and no one in their right mind is paying $100+ for Chinese-made cotton sweaters (oh, excuse me, SUPIMA cotton).

 

[Van Veen]

I hope that someone can resurrect it as a private label maker. Weren't they doing that before Brooks Brothers shut down all private label stuff a few months ago?

 

[clee1982]

hopefully, though I assume BB as a base load helped the business case, not sure how they would operate stand alone

 

[coolarrow]

Brooks Brothers is permanently shutting down its shirt factory in NC.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article242769746.html

Outline.com

outline.com

Probably going to devastate the town, considering the population is 621 and the factory employs 150.

****. The Garland factory hits hard.

Yep. I have a couple of old school ocbds from BB that say GAR on the shirt tail indicating they were made in Garland. I don't think the new MiUSA ones have that.

Never got to go to the outlet shop that was right by that plant. I think it's been closed a couple of years, but had it on the bucket list.

Looks like there's a union involved so the workers should have some sort of severance vs. being laid off by Kohls.

 

[gnatty8]

I bought a few OCBD from Ratio Clothing that looked almost identical to the BB Black Fleece shirts and had assumed these were being made in the Garland factory? Tough blow for the town, and in that part of NC, won't be easy to find work.

 

[papado]

I bought a few OCBD from Ratio Clothing that looked almost identical to the BB Black Fleece shirts and had assumed these were being made in the Garland factory? Tough blow for the town, and in that part of NC, won't be easy to find work.

I believe Ratio was using that exact factory to your point, so I guess no more made in NC shirts for them. I saw for other shirts Ratio mentions a NJ factory, so maybe they had already been preparing for possible move...