Men's Wearhouse ousts founder, pitchman Zimmer

[Tx4obama]

NEW YORK (AP) — Men’s Wearhouse doesn’t like the way its founder looks anymore.

The men’s clothier said Wednesday that it fired executive chairman and face of the company George Zimmer, 64, who has appeared in many of its TV commercials with the slogan ‘‘You’re going to like the way you look. I guarantee it.’’

The company announced the move in a terse statement that gave no reason for the abrupt firing of Zimmer, who built Men’s Wearhouse Inc. from one small Texas store using a cigar box as a cash register to one of North America’s largest men’s clothing sellers with 1,143 locations.

The firing appears to end the career of one of TV’s most recognizable pitchmen. Zimmer’s gravelly-voiced slogan became almost a cultural touchstone, and his natty but down-to-earth charm made dressing sharply feel more accessible to men.

Zimmer said in a written statement that over the past several months he and the board of directors disagreed about the company’s direction.

‘‘Over the last 40 years, I have built The Men’s Wearhouse into a multi-billion dollar company with amazing employees and loyal customers who value the products and service they receive at The Men’s Wearhouse,’’ he said in a statement. But he noted that ‘‘instead of fostering the kind of dialogue in the boardroom that has, in part, contributed to our success, the board has inappropriately chosen to silence my concerns by terminating me as an executive officer.’’

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http://www.boston.com/business/news/2013/06/19/men-wearhouse-ousts-founder-and-exec-chairman/jdgGZ7p79W25CLQXbkHwnL/story.html

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MENS_WEARHOUSE_EXECUTIVE_CHAIRMAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-19-19-25-47

[jberryhill]

1. They didn't like the way he looked

[Tx4obama]

2. Probably just a play on words of his famous phrase that's in the second paragraph. n/t

[Ian David]

3. The dude was one of us, IIRC. A Progressive. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

4. They want to make it seem more hip, and -(flame) suit on- they uh, probably have a point.

Boomers don't like to hear it, but they're not exactly cutting edge anymore, nor are they really representative of the demographic most businesses want to appeal to. Like this one.

Their ideal customer is a 20something entering the workforce for the first time. Once you're in your 50s or 60s you've probably already bought most of your suits. I suspect someone at the BOD of Mens Wearhouse figured out that these guys don't respond to being sold to by someone who looks like their dad, or their grandpa.


But no doubt Boomers are probably going to have a massive collective shitfit as they're scootched off towards increasing irrelevance.

[SoCalDem]

6. I am happy to be "scootched"

No more worrying about being "trendy" & wasting all that money on clothes & shoes..

[Warren DeMontague]

7. No shit. I buy my clothes at Costco, and thank Jeebus I'm not someone who needs a lot of suits.

And I'm gonna be that 80 year old guy still wearing Chuck Taylors. I refuse to spend more than 35 bucks on a pair of shoes.

[SoCalDem]

8. I often shop on ebay

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. You're probably right

about the age thing. I for one, am happy to report I've made it to age 62 and DON'T own a suit. Sports jackets and dress slacks yes, a suit no. Occasionally I think about it though

[Warren DeMontague]

11. People occasionally get married or worse, die.

That's my main reason for having one.

[pkdu]

5. Isn't he a Democrat? Nt

[Tx4obama]

10. A link to his BIO, below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Zimmer

Excerpt...

-snip-

Management, Activism and Personal Life

Zimmer's style of corporate management (for example, the company's June 2004 nomination of spiritual guru Deepak Chopra to its board) is peculiar in the view of some, while others perceive his style as cutting-edge.

Zimmer's experience caring for his mother, who died of cancer, led him to support research into the therapeutic use of MDMA, and for his efforts to legalize cannabis (for instance, by making donations equaling $170,500 to support California's Proposition 19 in 2010).

-snip-

[pkdu]

12. Wow....and I just looked on fec.gov , he's donated over 350k to democrats nt