At the start of this millennium, Brooks Brothers, a retailer of men’s business apparel, was on shaky ground. The company had sold classic suits to most of the American presidents and was considered a style innovator, having introduced such concepts as ready-to-wear suits (in 1890), wash-and-wear shirts (1953), and no-iron cotton dress shirts (1998). But its reputation had been slipping, along with its revenues. In 1918, when Henry Sands Brooks founded the company, he did so with a mission: “To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest quality, to sell it at a fair profit and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise.” Under the ownership of his sons, that mission continued. After the company was purchased by a retail conglomerate, it still grew. But when Marks & Spencer bought Brooks Brothers in 1988, the new owners tried to join the trend toward business casual, cutting prices and quality along the way. Consumers went elsewhere, and beginning in the late 1990s, the company operated at a loss with a market value below what Marks & Spencer had paid.

In 2002, Claudio Del Vecchio bought Brooks Brothers and became chief executive officer. Del Vecchio, from a wealthy Italian family, had revered the brand but saw what other former customers did: fabrics and designs no longer were of high quality. His vision was to restore the company to its former greatness by reinforcing its culture and rebuilding its capacity to innovate and deliver great products, so Brooks Brothers and its reputation would outlast him.

Under Del Vecchio’s leadership the company improved quality and developed a new line to appeal to younger buyers. After six months, they shipped the new items to stores and by year’s end, they were seeing a profit.

The company “reshored” (returned to the United States) much of its manufacturing to better control quality. They also improved efficiency of inventory and delivery management. In 2018, when Brooks Brothers celebrated its 200th birthday, it was operating 50% more stores than in 2001 and was also selling in upscale department stores and on its retail website. It had built the brand in new markets, with 35% of revenues coming from sales in 50 countries outside the United States. E-commerce will be a key part of Brooks Brothers’ future; online sales already account for the company’s largest share of revenues and are growing faster than store retailing. E-commerce and store retailing drive growth together, because most Brooks Brothers customers visit stores to get ideas and then complete purchases online. Together, these signs suggest that effective operations management is helping Del Vecchio realize his vision.

What measures did Brooks Brothers take to improve product quality? Suggest one other method it could employ to further improve quality.

Questions

1. How is information technology helping Brooks Brothers improve responsiveness to consumers?

2. How is information technology helping Brooks Brothers improve responsiveness to consumers?

3. What benefits can Brooks Brothers obtain from reshoring operations (bringing production back into the United States from other locations)? Why is improving efficiency an important part of such moves?