, Columnist
The Unraveling of Men's Wearhouse
The company overpaid for Jos. A. Bank and has made a mess of itself since.
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The good news is that the merger of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank is producing the promised cost synergies. The bad news is that those synergies matter about as much as shiny cuff links on a dirty, torn dress shirt.
The company is a mess. While still anchored by the Men's Wearhouse chain, a brand that's been around since the 1970s, the parent company now bears the appropriately uncatchy name of Tailored Brands. What once had a market value of $2.5 billion is now worth $600 million. And stable revenue growth has turned to declines, as the company fumbles with Jos. A. Bank, for which it paid $1.8 billion almost exactly two years ago. (Yep, the merger cost triple what the combined company is worth today.)