When it comes to menswear retailing in Canada, the pickings are pretty slim. But Mike Purkis is out to change that.
The fourth-generation operator of the privately owned Caulfeild Apparel Group, Purkis has a long history in the apparel industry. The company, which is based in suburban Toronto, traces its roots to 1886 and was primarily a licensing company. That was until about a decade ago when Purkis decided it was “time to take ownership of brands. We bought all the rights to Joe Boxer in Canada and we run that independently.” It also owns Benson and Modern English and still holds licenses for Robert Graham, Outland Denim, Stacy Adams and other labels.
Although Caulfeild’s core business will continue, Purkis is about to embark on a new journey: retail. Within the next 90 days he will launch the men’s retail concept Hank, which is designed to capitalize on the white space left from the departure of some of the country’s top names.
The soon-to-open Hank store in Bayview Village in Toronto.
Courtesy of Hank
“We in Canada have seen a dramatic closing of premium retail over the last five years,” he said. “Hudson’s Bay was $400 million of premium menswear, and with Nordstrom and Saks, we figure the gap is about $500 million in the Canadian market. And while there are still some great retailers out there, no one is filling the space they previously filled.”
He believes Harry Rosen, which operates at the luxury end, will pick up the top 15 percent of sales abandoned by the departure of these stores, and La Maison Simons, a department store founded in 1840, will also benefit. “But a lot of the Canadian consumers are being left unserved, and we believe they’re looking for clarity from the confusion in a digital world,” Purkis said.
He readily admits that he doesn’t personally have experience in retail. “Our company started as a retailer in 1886 with a shop on Front Street in Toronto, started by a guy named Hans Caulfeild, and my great-grandfather started as a clerk. The story I’ve heard my whole life is that they succeeded because they had the fastest ship up the St. Lawrence [River] and they could get goods to market quicker than anyone else. And I’d say that holds true today, that speed to market and execution are important, but we haven’t run a retail store in probably a century.”
So Purkis created a team of menswear veterans to join him to create an alternative. They include Sanjay Malhotra, the former vice president of menswear for Hudson’s Bay, who will serve as vice president of strategy and business development, and Patrick Tier, who owned a store named Citizen Clothing in Victoria, British Columbia, and who also worked for Ermenegildo Zegna, as merchandise director.
In addition, Lanita Layton, who was managing director of Hugo Boss in Canada, and also worked for Holt Renfrew for more than a decade, has joined the team as senior adviser.
“I’ve been friends with Lanita for two decades,” Purkis said. “She was head of men’s at Holt’s for 10 years and then left to join Hugo Boss. She took their retail and blew it up in a good way, going from five stores to 39. She knows how to roll out stores, how to manage retail and she certainly knows the menswear space.”
Malhotra was the last person to head men’s at The Bay before it was shuttered and Purkis said he was “the only person that could call me on the phone and tell me how much money we lost in the bankruptcy. But three weeks later, I offered him a job. He handled himself so well through the process and just has such high integrity that he and I stayed connected. He’s going to run Joe Boxer for us and he’s helped build out this idea of retail.”
And he credited Tier, who will serve as buyer, with having a “great ability to curate and put together product.”
The Hank logo.
Courtesy of Hank
Over the last year the team has refined the name, the product mix and the look of what Hank will be, Purkis said. “We’ve put together what we think is a very compelling argument for the Canadian consumer.”
Hank will sell what Purkis described as a mix of “some of the better menswear brands you would have seen at Hudson’s Bay. They include Boss, Polo Ralph Lauren, Rodd & Gunn, Du/er and Nudie Jeans Co. In addition, Impure, an Italian casual essentials brand, Wear London and Ketroy will be part of the mix.
Shirts from the Caulfeild 1886 line.
Courtesy of Hank
The national brands will be complemented by private labels. Caulfeild 1886 will offer elevated sportswear and ready-to-wear, and Hank will feature core basics. Caulfeild’s Benson sportswear and ready-to-wear will also be included.
Purkis said the mix at Hank will be 25 to 30 percent tailored clothing and about 65 percent sportswear. There will also be footwear, furnishings and accessories for a complete lifestyle offering.
This summer, Hank will open three stores almost simultaneously: Bayview Village in Toronto; Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, Ontario, and Masonville in London, Ontario. An e-commerce site will launch at shophank.com. The stores will average around 1,700 square feet and will eventually go up to around 2,300 square feet.
The Hank private brand will focus on elevated basics.
Courtesy of Hank
“The footprint is not huge so we’re being very curated and intentional in what we buy and what we think our customer wants,” he said. “We’re not trying to sell them clothing for the moment. We’re trying to help them build a wardrobe they can curate and wear for decades. Clothing isn’t inexpensive these days. We want to help people to make better decisions and build a stable.”
Hank is not named for any person but is actually the term for a traditional coil of yarn, Purkis said. “If you walk into a fabric shop, when the yarn is folded in what looks like a figure eight, that is actually a hank of yarn. I was over in Laos about 12 years ago, inspecting factories, and there was an Australian lady that set up an artisanal weaving shop there. She had all these beautiful hanks of dyed yarn. I took a photo, it’s always been on my phone, and I shared it with the group. They said, ‘We love this.’ And it also represents what we think our guy would be called. He’s a 25- to 55-year-old, confident man that doesn’t need to be loud. He’s well intentioned, confident and we just thought the name hit that.”
Purkis said Caulfeild is bankrolling the business — at least initially. “Our intention is to roll out at least three more stores next year, once we test it. And growing to 20 to 30 is the goal, without a clear timeline on that. We will be looking for investors at that stage. That’s not an inexpensive rollout.”
Down the road, Hank may one day find its way across the border into the U.S., but that’s not a priority at this point. “We have to start here in our home market, see what works, and then evolve,” he said. “We have a big job to do up here. When The Bay shut, they were north of 70 doors, 40 to 45 of which were highly profitable. So we think we can build to 30 to 40 doors and have a very successful business up here.”
