It's not secret that the British-based clothing company has had a very difficult year, but a move as massive as dropping womenwear altogether hints at big changes afoot for the retailer to make ends meet for 2010.
Ben Sherman's main outpost here in the city is in Soho, at 96 Spring Street, where women's wares currently run the gamut from '20s-inspired swing dresses for $159 to zippered parkas for $259.
As Miles Gray, the outgoing chief executive, told WWD: "We have a 50 year history in producing great men's wear with significant success internationally." And, as WWD further points out, men's wear is the bulk of Ben Sherman's business, with women's wear constituting only 10-15 percent of sales.
That said, cutting out 15 percent of your business is no small matter, and it's clear that the company will also lay off quite a few employees as a result.
