Bel Air Businessman Launching Online Menswear Company

A Bel Air man who used to work for Jos. A. Bank is starting his own business, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Jos. A. Bank, which was headquartered in Hampstead, experienced a significant reduction in force after Men’s Wearhouse bought the company in 2014.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, Men’s Wearhouse planned to lay off 122 employees by the end of 2015.

Now Steve Marshall, who left his post as a Jos. A. Bank merchandising vice president in May, has teamed up with five other former Jos. A. Bank employees to launch a company based in Bel Air geared toward a “more affluent” customer, with items that will keep “the classic guy looking current,” he told The Baltimore Sun.

The new company, Wilkes & Riley Luxury Menswear, is set to launch online Nov. 10, according to its website.

The Wilkes & Riley Facebook page describes the business as “an eCommerce website selling classically-styled menswear.”

Marshall is in good company in taking lessons from the brick-and-mortar menswear industry and turning it into another venture online.

After Men’s Wearhouse fired founder George Zimmer in 2013, he recently launched zTailors. The company allows people to book tailors online to come to their homes or offices for fittings. He calls it the “Uber for tailors,” according to The New York Times.