Buongiorno Italia!

I’m happy to be back in the store after a fabulous trip to Greece and Italy.  A vacation, yes, but also a bit of a working vacation.  My intention in Rome, Italy, was to check out all the stores.  And I did… we literally visited every menswear store!

I thought I would learn a lot- new products, merchandising ideas, new creative design ideas and so on.  And I did learn a few things from some displays, and I saw some very nice stores.

But overall, everything I saw was either overpriced or low quality.  The nicest stores were very simple.  I liked these stores, but I just didn’t like their selection- it was so very limited.  The stores were beautiful, but light on inventory.

Moreover, Europeans seem to be awash in sameness.  I didn’t see the new design ideas I was looking for.  Many of the stores looked the same, and after awhile they all started to blend together.

So I didn’t learn as much as I hoped.  Instead, the main thing I learned is we are doing it right!  There wasn’t a store like ours in all of Rome.  What we do here is unique.

We’re unlike other stores because we carry a wide selection of products from casual dressy to top executive.  We feature a range of brands and select only the right products from each brand, rather than just grab their entire lines.  Our products are selected for quality AND value, with expert staff and an enjoyable shopping experience.

This trip was a lot of fun… a LOT of fun!  It opened my eyes and made me so excited about our approach.  While I’m not known for taking a lot of vacations, next June I’ve booked another trip to Venice (and I’ll compare us to their stores as well)!