Casual Male Retail is interested in exploring overseas expansion but rather than open stores in the markets it is considering (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.), the specialty retailer has chosen to open online shops instead.
Dennis Hernreich, chief operating officer of Casual Male, told the Financial Times that opening online rather than physical stores makes sense because, "It will enable us to size up the market... without a huge investment in either infrastructure or inventory."
The company currently operates roughly 500 stores in North America along with one in London (open since 1994).
Casual Male's approach is similar to Lands' End. The division of Sears Holdings has operated solely as an e-tailer in Germany and the U.K. since 2000. According to the Financial Times, Lands' End closed online operations in France, Ireland and Italy.
Michael Rubin, chief executive of GSI Commerce, the company that is operating the Casual Male sites and handling fulfillment, said, "I think there's a trend in that big U.S. retailers want to take their businesses international and are looking at the web as a great way to get into the market."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of Casual Male's approach to overseas expansion? Do you see this as a trend that others will follow? Do you expect physical stores to follow e-tail operations for Casual Male and others or do you think U.S. retailers will stick to strictly e-commerce operations in Europe and other markets overseas?