In March 2020, Harry Rosen closed their 17 stores in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand also dried up for their products as customers stopped buying luxury clothing and switched to athleisure as they worked from home. 

Harry Rosen President & COO Ian Rosen turned what would have been a major setback for the business into a golden opportunity. He accelerated his team’s digital transformation plans to deliver a best-in-class online experience unique to Harry Rosen on their website. He also pursued adjacent product category opportunities to expand the Harry Rosen brand and strengthen their relationship with their loyal customers. 

In this episode of Legends of Retail, Ian talks to Chris about how he led the company through this crucible moment for the business. Topics they cover include:

• How they replatformed their online store
• The features they prioritized during their replatform and why
• How they launched a grooming product category with dropship
• How Ian decides to promote internally vs. hire externally

If you’re interested in a retailer that’s at the forefront of luxury and apparel retail, this episode is for you!

Connect with Ian on Linkedin

Connect with Chris on Twitter and Linkedin

Check out Harry Rosen

About Ian:

Ian Rosen is the President & Chief Operating Officer at Harry Rosen, where he is responsible for driving profitable growth across each of the company’s three banners: Harry Rosen, FinalCut and The Outlet by Harry Rosen. In his role, Ian works with Executives across Sales Management, Merchandising, Marketing, Digital and IT functions to ensure operations are aligned towards delivering on the Harry Rosen brand promise to provide exceptional service to clients throughout every touchpoint.  Since joining Harry Rosen in 2018, Ian has led the company’s transformation to extend relationships with customers onto digital channels and enhance the shopping experience with technology (both online and in-store). Ian marks the third generation of Rosen’s that have joined the company founded by his Grandfather. Prior to joining Harry Rosen, Ian was a Management Consultant at Bain & Company in Chicago where he focused on Strategy, Retail and Digital projects. Ian holds both an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and an HBA from Ivey Business School.

About Convictional:
Convictional helps retailers add new brands and categories to their assortments, without any inventory risk. Learn more at convictional.com.