Harry Rosen pricing/business model

Originally Posted by wEstSidE

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whenever you guys start talking about money on here i just dont know what to do.

Very much my thoughts too....

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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All I'm saying is that for Harry Rosen's CORE customers, $4500 is chump change.
Have you been in a Harry Rosen recently? The clientele is upper middle class, yes - but the majority of their stores are nothing like the Bloor st. location, and I'm willing to bet there are very few people hitting up the Cinnabon and then dropping 100 G's at Square One or the Rideau Centre. If you want to know how Rosen's pricing model works take a peek at the distribution rights for a bunch of the designers and lines that they carry - it's easy to dictate what it will sell for if you are the only person in Canada anyone can buy it from.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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Wait a minute . . . only $4500???? Not $45,000??

$4500 is chump change at Harry Rosen, whether it be spent in one visit or over many. I've heard some clients drop about $100,000 or more in one visit.

Sorry. Just sayin'.

Wtf, whats wrong with these people? You could fly to Naples, and savile row and have your whole wardrobe tailored. **** harry...

Originally Posted by ALFAMALE

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Wtf, whats wrong with these people? You could fly to Naples, and savile row and have your whole wardrobe tailored. **** harry...

But than you would have to fly somewhere just to buy clothes. That's a cool thought for us SF junkies, but not for most people.

Originally Posted by ALFAMALE

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Wtf, whats wrong with these people? You could fly to Naples, and savile row and have your whole wardrobe tailored. **** harry...

You think these people either have the time or interest to do that?

They just want their business wardrobe covered and have it ASAP.

All anybody needs to know coming into this thread is that SuitMyself hasn't the faintest idea what he's talking about. Canada isn't filled with mystical Monaco-bound snowbirds buying up couture dresses by the dozen for their Russian oligarch mistresses. I bet you could count on one hand the number of times someone has waltzed in and dropped $100,000 at a Harry Rosen store in the last decade. I don't think you have any idea whether it's happened at all, frankly -- this is a perfect example of an unchallenged assertion snowballing into ridiculous idiocy.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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Harry Rosen's demographic isn't shoppers who are so rich that price isn't an option. It's people like me -- professionals who want quality at a fair price. 400$ for a pair of Allen Edmonds is not a fair price, nor is 140$ for a Duchamp tie. These are things that you can find for a fraction of the price online which is where many Canadians like myself are beginning to turn for a fairer and more realistic price.
Lord Barrington says price IS an issue for most HR customers.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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Wait a minute . . . only $4500???? Not $45,000?? $4500 is chump change at Harry Rosen, whether it be spent in one visit or over many. I've heard some clients drop about $100,000 or more in one visit. Sorry. Just sayin'.
Hearsay.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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I suppose you're right there's no harm in asking for a discount of sorts, but if they say no, then no means no. Plus, as another poster has already pointed out, Harry Rosen caters to customers for whom price is not an issue. That's a very good point! Yes, $100,000 is an obscene amount of money for us average folks and $4500 is also an obscene amount of money for us average folks, as well.
Misquoting Barrington to "prove" the opposite.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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The average annual income of their high roller customers is more than what you and I would make in twenty lifetimes. There are others who can afford those prices--those others just aren't you and I and most average folks. As I've said, some Harry Rosen clients drop more than $100,000 in one visit/u]. The core Harry Rosen customer makes, as I've said, more money than what you and I would make in twenty lifetimes.
Restating own hearsay as established fact.

Originally Posted by SuitMyself

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That's $6000 on 75 pairs of socks. Some people have more money than they know what to do with. $4500 is not chump change, yes, you're right. Well, at least, in this day and age for most people, $4500 is not chump change. All I'm saying is that for Harry Rosen's CORE customers, $4500 is chump change. See the story about the wife who bought 75 pairs of cashmere socks for $80 a pair. There are others who can afford those prices--those others just aren't you and I and most average folks. Heckling over prices at Harry Rosen is NOT tolerated. They do not allow that, period. They have an image to maintain.
Sigh.

suitmyself is apparently marsupialed and hasn't stepped into a harry rosen EVER. it's mostly kids spending their birthday money and middle aged men buying a t shirt so they can walk around the mall with the bag lol I assure you that a majority of their sales are to small timer customers.

that being said, when I used to shop there the SA would ALWAYS discount me a minimum of 10% off. I always appreciated this and it, to this day, still makes me want to go in and buy things from him solely out of appreciation. sucks for OP that they didn't have the same respect for him, but then again I dropped much more than 4500 there.

Originally Posted by oneeightyseven

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...that being said, when I used to shop there the SA would ALWAYS discount me a minimum of 10% off. I always appreciated this and it, to this day, still makes me want to go in and buy things from him solely out of appreciation. sucks for OP that they didn't have the same respect for him, but then again I dropped much more than 4,500 of my dads money there.
FTFY youngster...hehe

Much of what has been written here about HR's business model is conjecture. So let me do a little.

The downtown stores (Bloor, Eaton Centre) cater to investment bankers, lawyers, etc. They closed their Scotia Plaza store because a lot of their customers don't shop for clothes without their wives.

Yorkdale, Square One, etc. cater to upper middle class suburbanites. My guess is that they sell more casualwear there as impulse purchases.

The truly well-dressed men in Toronto --- and there are few of them --- still shop at Walter Beauchamp, Perry's, or bespoke tailors like House of Salgado. Harry Rosen has always struck me more as place for men who don't particularly care about clothes but want to be (or need to be) moderately well-dressed. They aren't concerned about thread counts or surgeon's cuffs.

The HR outlet in Mississauga has a lot of junk, but there are diamonds in amongst the cubic zirconias.I have purchased 4 Brioni suits there in the last 2 years, each for less than $2000. Are they last year's models? Probably, but realistically, who cares? I'm 45.

Originally Posted by WildeMan

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The downtown stores (Bloor, Eaton Centre) cater to investment bankers, lawyers, etc. They closed their Scotia Plaza store because a lot of their customers don't shop for clothes without their wives.

They closed the Scotia Plaza store to open a nicer one in First Canadian Place.

I like the large variety of clothing houses on offer at HR. That is a big plus in my books. That plus the ambience adds to the shopping experience there, at least for me anyways. I believe that is largely an underlooked part of the men's shopping business.

Will likely ask my SA via email if he is willing to try and get a discount on the Armani spring coat I am looking at getting. From all of the responses offered here there appears to be some divergence of opinion. Though I believe he already said there are no discounts to be had.

On another note, does anyone here actively patronize the Ottawa Harry's location at the Rideau center? If so, which SA do you use when shopping there? Any recommendations?

Thanks, TRINI, didn't know. It was a SA at Scotia Plaza who told me it was tough to sell clothing to married men without their wives.

Ha! I would venture that selling clothing to a man with their wife present will result in less sales and the demand of a discount. Ask most waitresses, if they see a woman is going to pay the bill they are not feeling good about the prospects of a good tip. Woman by and large are hard bargainers while men, like me, not so much. My two cents.

HR closed their Scotia Plaza store because they moved to First Canadian Place.
Walter Beauchamp leaves much to be desired. They quoted me a price to do a hem on a pair of pants for $75. Granted that they were not store bought, but at $75!?!? The SA's reason is that the store is a bespoke shop and the tailor has to take his time off eslewhere to attend to this task.......bunch of BS.

HR prices are high. If you can afford it, all the best. If not, buy it eslewhere if you can find it. SF has "taught" us to become better shoppers!

Originally Posted by WildeMan

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Thanks, TRINI, didn't know. It was a SA at Scotia Plaza who told me it was tough to sell clothing to married men without their wives.

BTW, you can't even compare the Bloor and Eaton Centre stores.
The Bloor store is the absolute flag ship with bespoke, Tom Ford, Zegna Couture, whereas Eaton Centre is just your regular mall-level HR.
The store in First Canadian Place is somewhere in between. They have nice shoes btw.