The 48-year-old Australian brand went into voluntary administration in January, but it was bought back a few months later by its original part-owners, the Hong Kong-based Yeung family, which owns private equity investment company, Harbour Guidance. At the time, it closed 37 stores, made 263 staff redundant and owed $50 million to creditors, the majority of which sat within the owner. 

According to a report from the Australian Financial Review earlier this year, KPMG’s James Stewart said the Yeung family’s investment vehicle had been keeping the business afloat after it lost $5.5 million (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in 2018 and $11 million in 2019.

“They’d been writing cheques to keep the business going, which is one of the reasons why they’re the largest creditor. (They) couldn’t keep doing this forever,” he said at the time.

Jeanswest marketing and business development manager Leanne Wall admitted that there was “some surprise” when the business had been bought back by the Yeung family at the time, but is confident that the future ahead is a positive one.

“With its almost 50-year-history, for most of its years, Jeanswest was in growth and profitable, so there was a strong belief and shared energy that we could rejuvenate the iconic brand,” she said. “We’ve been able to retain the bulk of our teams and now we’re on the journey of growing the brand organically.”

Denim in the DNA

At its peak, the fashion retailer was well-known for its marketing slogan, “Jeanswest fits best” and its wide range of jeans on offer, from straight and skinny legs to maternity, tummy trimmers and butt lifters. Now, Jeanswest is re-focusing on all its denim and denim-related ranges, exploring new techniques and fabrications, some of which have already appeared in stores, but will largely be released in the second half of the year.

“There have been ranges over time that we’ve moved away from. At one point, we had a children’s range, we also did a strong back-to-work program which was dressier. We’re trying not to complicate things and focus on what we’re good at,” explained Wall. 

Location, location

It’s a challenging time for physical retail at the moment, as e-commerce continues to rise in the current climate. Other businesses that have gone into voluntary administration have switched to online-only models and since the pandemic, others have started consolidating their store network in an effort to keep profitability up. 

However, Wall says there is still a belief in bricks-and-mortar at Jeanswest and since the brand had already consolidated its network at the end of last year, coronavirus has had less of an impact on its stores compared to other brands. 

Many of its stores are also situated outside of CBD areas, which have suffered a huge drop in foot traffic since the pandemic hit earlier this year. While Melbourne is in lockdown, three Jeanswest stores are still open in Geelong and “trading well”, said Wall.

“I think location has been one of the major reasons why we are seeing a turnaround today. The stores we have re-opened are perfectly positioned for our brand where the brand has a strong following,” she explained. 

It was believed that one of the reasons behind Jeanswest’s downfall was the increase in online competitors, but in the coming months, the brand will be relaunching its website, with a simpler user journey, more detailed product information and imagery of different-sized models.

Do good, be good

Jeanswest has just announced its partnership with not-for-profit organisation, Good360, which delivers excess product from retailers to people in need. It’s part of the brand’s move towards focusing on the local community and its sustainability practices, says Wall. As part of the new partnership, 90 Australian Jeanswest stores are donating clothing to the organisation, who will connect the stock to local charities, schools and community groups.

“Throughout our repositioning process, we were able to identify end-of-line products which we wanted to do more with, rather than looking at a markdown strategy. We knew there were individuals and communities that were in great need of clothing during this time,” said Yeung.

“Through our partnership with Good360, each of our Australian stores were able to be paired with the local charity in the most need for clothing. The relationship with Good360 has allowed our store teams to be a part of the company initiative by being able to develop a local community connection.”

Jeanswest has also long been a partner of Fashion Revolution Week and regularly participates in the Baptist World Aid Australian Fashion Report, while also offering denim ranges using less water and chemicals in the manufacturing process.

“For us, it’s really important that we are growing the brand organically, that we are listening to our loyal customer and delivering to them what they expect from a denim brand and also that we’re prioritising our teams and having a local, authentic connection with our consumers,” said Wall.