Bank on Expansion

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (Hampstead, Md.) has announced its intention to widen its expansion plans. According to the Baltimore Sun, the men’s apparel retailer said it thinks it can have 200 more stores open by 2012, twice as many as it had previously planned. It opened its 400th store last week in Orlando, Fla. It has opened 27 stores so far in 2007 and expects to open about 50 more for the entire year.

The retailer also said it hopes to reach $1 billion in revenue in the next five years, nearly double the $546 million revenue last year.

The Sun said company executives decided to open more stores after a survey by an outside consultant found that there was still room left in markets where the retailer doesn't have as many outlets, such as in California and the Midwest. The survey also found that the chain could open more stores closer together. And the company said it plans to look at international markets once it has reached 600 stores in the United States.

“We realized there were still places we could open and that maybe we needed to re-evaluate our goal,” ceo Robert Wildrick told The Sun.

Bank had fewer than 100 stores when a new management team took over in 1999. Since then, revenue increased from $194 million to $546 million last year.