Page 34 - Port of Baltimroe Magazine - Jan Feb 2012
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The Port of Baltimore
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January/February 2012
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BUSINESS
I
t’s been said that a man should “dress
for success,” and success is what JoS.
A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. is all about.
Based in the Baltimore suburb of
Hampstead, Md., the company has become
a leading retailer in the United States, with
ongoing strong sales and aggressive plans
for future growth.
But success doesn’t come easy — it
requires a global supply chain to keep JoS.
A. Bank well stocked. The menswear com-
pany has 552 stores in 43 states and also
ships orders to more than 60 countries.
More than 40 percent of the company’s
merchandise comes through the Port of
Baltimore.
“With the current upgrades under way
to accommodate the newest and larger
vessels, we see the Port of Baltimore playing
an important ongoing role in JoS. A. Bank
Clothiers, Inc.’s growth and success,” said
Rick Groose, Divisional Vice President,
Distribution Center 2/Imports.
JoS. A. Bank traces its roots to 1866,
when Lithuanian immigrant Charles Bank
opened a small tailor shop. He later began
making pants, and was joined by his 11-year-
old grandson, Joseph, in 1898. Joseph
started as a cloth cutter, but his real talent
was in sales. As an adult, he traveled the
South selling pants. He married Anna Hartz,
a traveling salesperson for a rival company
run by her widowed mother, Lena. In 1922,
Joseph and his mother-in-law formed L.
Hartz and Bank, manufacturing and selling
suits to retailers.
Two decades later, the growing company
purchased a building in Baltimore on
Hopkins Place, and in 1945 Joseph and his
son Howard bought out the Hartz interest
and formed JoS. A. Bank and Co.
JoS. A. Bank is both a brand and a
retailer — the company designs, manu-
factures and sells its clothes.
“Our product mix is aimed at the profes-
sional male,” said Dave Ullman, Executive
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
He added that the company makes and sells
a full line of men’s clothing and accessories,
including suits, sport coats, casual wear,
dress shirts, ties and leather coats.
“We don’t have middlemen in our
process,” Ullman stated. “We design
everything, set the specs, set patterns as
to how everything should be made, and
we have contract makers around the world
BY NANCY MENEFEE JACKSON
The Perfect Fit
JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Keeps
Merchandise Coming Through Baltimore
Â
More than 800 employees
at the Hampstead, Md.,
corporate headquarter campus,
which includes two distribution
centers.
Â
More than 6,000 employees
nationwide.
Â
552 stores in 43 states, as
well as catalog and website
sales.
Â
About 25 percent of
business is the sale of suits, with
sportcoats and slacks accounting
for another 25 percent.
Â
The company is both a brand
and a retailer, manufacturing
the clothes it sells.
who produce them. We have very stringent
quality-control standards, and we’re able to
do that because we have a manufacturing
heritage — we know manufacturing.”
According to Ullman, “Baltimore is the
No. 1 port we run our products through.”
Though the company often ships goods in
Bel Air, Md., retail store
At-A-Glance
COURTESY OF JOS. A BANK
COURTESY OF JOS. A BANK
