Perry Ellis International History

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The Company Description of Its Time

Perry Ellis International is a leading international marketer of apparel, offering a diverse portfolio of brands through multiple distribution channels, and more precisely a leading licensor, designer and marketer of high quality menswear, including sport and dress shirts, golf sportswear, sweaters, casual and dress pants and shorts to all levels of retail distribution. The company owns or licenses the brand names under which most of its products are sold, and that own-or-license formula is the key to this entire profile. Its Munsingwear and Original Penguin brand has its own separate filing in this letter, cross-linked below; this page is about the parent machine that holds dozens of such brands at once and decides which store each one belongs in.

Distribution, Licensing and Sourcing

Perry Ellis' distribution channels include regional, national and international department stores, national and regional chain stores, mass merchants, green grass (that is, golf related) retailers, specialty stores and corporate wear distributors through the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Its largest customers at filing included Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., J.C. Penney Company, Inc., Mervyn's, Kohl's Corporation and Sears Roebuck & Co., a customer list kept with its period attached, since some of those chains belong to retail history now. The company also licenses its proprietary brands to third parties for products it does not itself sell, including men's and women's footwear, fragrances, underwear, active wear, loungewear and outerwear, arrangements that raise overall brand awareness while adding revenue.

Through its family of brands marketing strategy, Perry Ellis develops a distinct brand, styling and pricing strategy for each product category within each distribution channel and target consumer, and it also produces goods sold under the private label programs of its retail customers. Manufacturing is contracted out: the company primarily contracts through a worldwide network of quality manufacturers, using approximately 130 independent suppliers located in the Far East, other parts of Asia, Africa and South and Central America, and believes its extensive sourcing experience lets it obtain quality products cost-effectively. The filing is also candid about the trends it was riding: consolidation of department and chain stores into fewer, stronger retailers, retailers' reliance on suppliers with design expertise and advanced systems, and the continued importance of strong brands for differentiation.

A History Told in Acquisitions, 1978 to 2009

The brief history kept here starts with the name itself: Ellis had formed in 1978 to control the licensing of his name, and Supreme changed its name to Perry Ellis International and its stock symbol to PERY. In 2000 the company signed an agreement to distribute Perry Ellis menswear to advertising specialty and promotional products companies, acquired the Mondo di Marco and Pro Player labels, and created two Latin-inspired brands, Cubavera and the Havanera Co. In 2002 it acquired Jantzen and began designing and marketing women's swimwear under Jantzen and Southpoint, plus swimwear under the Nike brand. In 2003 it completed the acquisition of Salant, its largest licensee, gaining greater control of the Perry Ellis brand plus Axis and Tricots St. Raphael, and later that year launched Original Penguin by Munsingwear as a lifestyle brand rich in heritage, geared towards modern youth-minded consumers.

The sequence continues at the same pace. In 2004 the company became licensee of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour and acquired Redsand. In 2005 it purchased the assets of Tropical Sportswear, becoming one of the top three producers in the men's bottoms market and adding Savane and Farah, and acquired the trademarks to the surfwear brands Gotcha, GirlStar and MCD. In 2006 it was ranked the number one apparel company in stock performance by the trade magazine Daily News Record and signed a licensing agreement for Jag swimwear. In 2008 it entered the women's contemporary market with Laundry by Shelli Segal and C&C California, and in 2009 it signed a licensing agreement with Callaway, the world's top golf brand, for apparel distribution. The historical record closes by noting only a portion of the history is listed, and points to the Peony! contemporary collection; that pointer is kept in the references below.

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