Generation Tux: George Zimmer’s Lucrative Second Chapter
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When everything went south for George Zimmer in 2013 after he was unceremoniously fired from Men’s Wearhouse, the company he founded in 1973, he could have easily ridden off into the sunset licking his wounds and counting his money.
Instead, the then-64-year-old set the wheels in motion for his next chapter. It’s called Generation Tux, an online tuxedo and suit rental business that launched a year after he departed Men’s Wearhouse and now has annual sales of $50 million.
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At the time, the idea of a direct-to-consumer tuxedo rental service seemed doomed to fail. But Zimmer again proved his entrepreneurial knack, much as he did with Men’s Wearhouse, which, at its peak, exceeded sales of $2.5 billion. Zimmer, who became a household name thanks to his ubiquitous television commercials and his gravelly voiced delivery of the company’s now-famous tag line: “I guarantee it,” was also an early proponent of the legalization of cannabis.
Zimmer, who is not shy about saying he was fired from his role at Men’s Wearhouse after four decades, agrees that he could have just retired after the public ousting but simply didn’t want to.
“It was mostly because I’ve spent my entire life in business,” he told WWD after he finished the first of his twice-daily workouts at his California home. “I started Men’s when I was 24 and I just felt incomplete without a business.”
He was the one to introduce tuxedo rentals to Men’s Wearhouse, he said, a business that eventually grew to account for a highly profitable $400 million in sales. But instead of getting back into brick-and-mortar after he exited, he settled on creating an online alternative.
Zimmer said it took four years before he knew for sure that Generation Tux would actually work. Along the way, there were some growing pains. “It was not an overnight success,” he said. “It took some time.”
At 73, Zimmer is now partially retired and not involved in the day-to-day operation of Generation Tux. But he still holds the position of chief executive officer and is “the statesman — the trust behind the brand,” said Jason Jackson, president of Generation Tux. “He’s the high-level visionary. We work with him on long-term strategy and lean on him for credibility.”
“I’m probably involved weekly as opposed to daily,” Zimmer said, and instead relies on Jackson and his team to operate the business. “Jason had worked for me at Men’s, so I knew him for 20 years.”
Jackson had been with Men’s Wearhouse since he was 17, where he started as a cashier. By the time he left in 2014, he was overseeing most of the company’s Southern California and Hawaii store operations.
His first post at Generation Tux was vice president of sales, but after some early glitches with the start-up caused a change in its executive ranks, he started climbing the ladder, first as executive vice president of sales and then as chief operating officer.
In 2017, Generation Tux acquired Menquin, a competing online business, for $25 million. That company’s CEO, Justin Delaney, became president of both brands and its cofounder, Bogdan Constantin, was named chief marketing officer.
But their tenure at the business didn’t last long. A few months later, Zimmer named Jackson copresident and it wasn’t long before it became obvious that the two had different operating styles. “He was more of an entrepreneur and I’m more operational,” Jackson said of Delaney.
A few months later, the Menguin guys were gone — “I asked them to leave,” Zimmer said — and Jackson was charged with overseeing both businesses, which he continues to do today. He relocated back to his home state of California, where Zimmer is also based, although Generation Tux remains headquartered in Louisville, Ky.
The way Generation Tux works is that a customer logs on, browses the collection and, using the company’s 3D rendering tool, selects the colors and accessories he prefers. The company will send swatches for free so the customer can be sure the shirt, tie and pocket square match his wedding partner’s outfit and also offers free at-home try-ons.
Generation Tux ships three weeks in advance to ensure the man gets his tuxedo or suit at least two weeks before his event in case there are issues that need to be addressed. In contrast, the company’s brick-and-mortar competitors will only have the order ready 24 to 48 hours in advance, Jackson said, giving Generation Tux an advantage.
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The firm has a 250,000-square-foot factory in Louisville that is filled with more than 100,000 tuxedos and suits in around 27 different styles — all private label. They’re constructed from super 130s and 140s merino wool in slim and classic fits, some feature Coolmax moisture-wicking and Flex-fit waistbands. In addition, Jackson said Generation Tux offers more than 100 styles and colors of ties, vests and other accessories.
Because of the company’s large in-stock position, if a groom is in a hurry, an order can be sent for delivery the next morning, Jackson said. (Although that sounds like a big number, Zimmer said Men’s Wearhouse had 1 million tuxedos in stock “in one building” when he was there.)
“We overinvested in inventory, so we’re well prepared for surges in business,” Jackson said, adding that this also meant the company was well-positioned for the “explosion” it experienced when the pandemic waned and all those postponed weddings and events were rescheduled.
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Most of Generation Tux’s business comes from weddings, Jackson said, and while the traditional black tuxedo remains a mainstay, men are now opting for alternative options such as light gray, navy and chocolate brown suits. “Suits are very popular for weddings today,” Jackson said. “They’re now more than half our assortment.” Patterns such as paisleys and stripes are also becoming more popular today, he said.
In January, the company launched a partnership with Allure Bridals, a key player in the women’s wedding market, Jackson said, to offer a special collection called The Vows Collection in bolder color and style options.
Despite its success, Generation Tux is not without competitors. In addition to Men’s Wearhouse and other smaller tuxedo rental brick-and-mortar players, Jackson said Black Tux is its largest online rival. But Jackson believes there are fundamental differences.
“The quality and modern selections in our product, combined with a focus on customer experience differentiates Generation Tux from our competitors. The company was built on creating a better process for consumers. Features like our proprietary fit algorithm, free swatches and free home try-on, wedding party management, and free shipping create a simple process for customers,” he claimed, also pointing to the company’s customer experience team that offers style and fit advice as an advantage.
With all the rental companies, the prices are pretty similar. For Generation Tux, a rental starts at $149, Jackson said, and the average order is around $200, which includes free shipping in both directions. The Black Tux is slightly more expensive, with a full outfit rental around $240, according to its website. The Men’s Wearhouse price for an in-store rental starts at $99.99, but goes higher for brands such as Joseph Abboud or Vera Wang, with prices over $200 for a nine-piece package.
With any tuxedo rental business, there is historically not a lot of repeat business. “It’s turn and burn,” Jackson said. “It’s one and done,” Zimmer agreed. But if a customer’s experience was favorable, they’ll return to Generation Tux if they need a special outfit for another event, they believe.
Jackson said the company is looking into this “recurrent revenue model” and how it can be a “one-stop shop for all rental needs,” he said. “We want to be known as the ‘everything’ source for an event or party, not just a wedding.”
Zimmer recalls going to New York City around five years ago to meet the founder of Rent the Runway and believed then that there was an opportunity to replicate that for men. “There’s no reason we can’t develop other business models,” he said, “so we’ll be investing in that as well.”
This will be the thrust for the company in 2023, Jackson said, but until then, Generation Tux will continue to seek to establish relationships with its core customer. The business markets heavily on online sites such as The Knot and WeddingWire and also invests in Google ads. Going forward, it is exploring using more ambassadors and influencers. What they won’t use, however, is the founder.
“George has been off television for years,” Jackson said, “and there’s more of an age gap. The youth of today doesn’t connect with him.”
Zimmer has a tough skin and that decision doesn’t bother him. In fact, he’s quick to admit that one of the reasons he’s not more actively involved with the business is that he doesn’t understand the marketing. “I built Men’s Wearhouse on my TV commercials but Generation Tux is 100 percent digital.”
What Zimmer does understand is financials and he said he’s “ecstatic” about how the business is performing now.
“We are just scratching the surface of the wedding business,” he said. “When I was fired from Men’s, we were doing $400 million in tuxedo rental sales, so for us to be doing $50 million is not that significant.
“As I used to say at Men’s, the profits from tuxedo rentals are enormous, but we had 1,000 men’s clothing stores so that restricted our ability to make money. Now, we have a wedding business that is not encumbered by even one store and now that we’re past the break-even point, the profitability is enormous.”
Although he’s still highly engaged with Generation Tux, how much longer does Zimmer expect to be working? Well, at this point, there’s no exit plan for him. “I’m probably in the best shape of my life and I like being mostly retired,” he said. “I used to think I’d want to sell this or go public, and I’m open to anything, but I’m also open to the status quo.”
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