Joe Mimran expects product to be one of his first areas of focus at Roots as he prepares to take on a key operating role at the Canadian retailer. International expansion, store merchandising and a more deliberate expression of the brand’s Canadian identity are also emerging as priorities.
Mimran, President and Creative Director of Toronto-based JM&A Design and Development Inc., will oversee much of the Roots operating business alongside business partner Frank Rocchetti following completion of the proposed take-private transaction announced this week. JM&A will be responsible for product design and development, manufacturing and distribution, along with Roots retail and e-commerce operations in Canada and the United States.
In an interview with Retail Insider following the announcement, Mimran said his attention will initially turn to the product itself.
“I’m a product person first, so that will be my first focus,” he said.
Consumers should not expect an immediate overhaul. Mimran said Roots is already working roughly nine months ahead on its merchandise, meaning it could take about a year before the influence of the new operating group becomes clearly visible in stores. He is also interested in looking at how assortments vary across the network, including greater differentiation between what he described as A, B and C stores, with larger or higher-volume locations potentially carrying broader assortments.
The transaction is not expected to close until the fourth quarter, and Mimran has yet to work through the Roots organization in detail. His early comments point to product and merchandising as the first areas he wants to examine while building on work already underway at the company.
Mimran Looks to Further Develop Roots’ Canadian Identity
One of the questions Mimran is considering is how Roots can make more of an identity built over more than five decades. Founded in Toronto in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green, Roots has become closely associated with Canadian casual apparel, leather goods and an outdoor lifestyle.
Mimran believes that heritage can have a stronger presence across merchandise, marketing, visual presentation and stores.
“How do we take that and glamorize it to the point that it really does distill the Canadian identity?” he said.
For Mimran, that extends from the product itself to messaging, imagery and how Roots presents itself in stores. He spoke positively about the existing retail experience and sees room to develop what is already there, including the way merchandise is presented and how different locations are assorted.
Canada itself also factors into his thinking about the brand’s potential outside its home market. Mimran said the country is well regarded internationally and believes Roots can carry a distinctly Canadian lifestyle proposition into additional markets.
“Canada is held in very high esteem,” he said, pointing to the opportunity to take the spirit associated with the country and Roots to consumers elsewhere.
That view is shared by Marquee Brands, which is partnering with JM&A in the Roots transaction.
Marquee Sought a Canadian Partner for Roots
Natasha Fishman, Chief Marketing Officer at Marquee Brands, told Retail Insider that maintaining Roots’ Canadian foundation was important as Marquee pursued the company.
Marquee approached Mimran and JM&A about becoming its operating partner, with discussions beginning around May, according to Mimran. Fishman said Marquee specifically wanted a Canadian-based operator and viewed keeping Roots anchored in Canada as critical to its plans for the brand.
JM&A will operate the core North American business while Marquee concentrates on global brand stewardship, international expansion and opportunities in additional categories and markets.
Fishman said Marquee sees considerable potential in taking the Canadian qualities associated with Roots to consumers internationally. Its strategy will be to expand the reach of the brand while maintaining the characteristics that have made it recognizable.
“We’re incredibly bullish on the Canadian spirit and the Canadian sensibility,” Fishman said, adding that Marquee sees demand for the outdoor lifestyle and cultural associations connected with Roots.
International Expansion a Major Opportunity
Mimran was unequivocal when asked whether international expansion will be part of the plan for Roots.
“Hundred percent. Hundred percent,” he said.
Roots already has a sizeable international business, including more than 100 partner-operated stores in Asia. Taiwan has been a longstanding market for the company, while Roots also operates a storefront on Alibaba’s Tmall platform in China.
Mimran sees considerable room to expand that presence and specifically mentioned Korea, China and Indonesia as markets with potential. He also has experience taking a Canadian retail concept into Asia. Club Monaco, which Mimran founded in Toronto in 1985, expanded into markets including Korea and Japan before the business was acquired by Ralph Lauren in 1999.
Marquee gives Roots access to a much larger network of international relationships. Mimran said the company works with more than 300 partners worldwide, opening potential routes into markets where Roots does not currently have a substantial presence. Marquee also maintains operations in markets including Shanghai and Seoul.
Roots will have several ways to enter or build its presence in those markets. The company already sells internationally through e-commerce, while Marquee works through licensing, wholesale, distribution and local operating partnerships in addition to retail.
Roots has also been developing products and marketing for specific international audiences. Earlier this year, it collaborated with Korean character ZANMANG LOOPY on a collection combining Roots’ Canadian imagery with the popular character. The merchandise was offered in Canada as well as through Roots Taiwan and Tmall in China.
Roach Expects ‘A Lot More Global Expansion’
Roots President and CEO Meghan Roach said international demand for the brand became particularly apparent during the strategic review that ultimately led to the Marquee and JM&A transaction.
Roach told Retail Insider that Roots spoke with numerous potential counterparties during the process and attracted significant interest from outside Canada. Some were recognizable names, she said, although confidentiality agreements prevent the company from identifying the other parties involved.
For Roach, that interest provided another indication of how widely Roots is recognized outside Canada. She pointed to the company’s history with the Olympic movement, its outdoor positioning and the broader appeal of Canadian culture as factors that have helped establish the brand internationally. She said some of Marquee’s existing partners have already expressed interest in Roots.
“I definitely think you’re going see a lot more global expansion for this brand,” Roach said.
Roach sees Marquee’s international network as one of the major advantages of the transaction. The company already has relationships with operators around the world that could provide Roots with access to markets where building those connections independently would take considerably longer.
U.S. Business Offers Room for Growth
The United States is another market Mimran intends to examine. Roots currently operates two corporate stores in the country, in Birmingham, Michigan, and Park City, Utah, alongside its U.S. e-commerce business.
Mimran described the existing operation as “a good base from which to work” and said the U.S. business is something the group will be working on. He did not outline a store-opening target or identify additional U.S. markets under consideration.
The physical footprint remains small compared with Roots’ Canadian network and its partner-operated presence in Asia. Further decisions around the U.S. business will come as JM&A gets deeper into the operation following completion of the transaction.
Travel Retail Emerging as Another Opportunity
Roots has also been testing additional ways to reach consumers through its physical network. Roach said the company’s recent expansion into travel retail has been performing well and sees further opportunities on the real estate side.
Roots opened a store at Vancouver International Airport in July in partnership with Hudson, part of global travel retailer Avolta. Located after security in the airport’s U.S. Departures area, the store carries an assortment developed for travellers, including Canadian-made merchandise, destination graphics and accessories. Roots also has travel-retail exposure at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, extending the concept into one of the brand’s longest-established international markets.
The airport strategy puts the Canadian identity that Mimran and Marquee want to develop further in front of travellers from outside the country. Roots said when the Vancouver location opened that it was exploring additional travel-retail opportunities across Canada.
For the Canadian store network more broadly, major changes are unlikely before the transaction closes. Roach said the next 60 to 90 days will largely remain business as usual. Roots will continue to look at its real estate and store network, with Mimran and Rocchetti bringing additional retail experience once JM&A assumes its operating role.
Roots Joins a Growing Group of Canadian Brands
Roots will become part of a broader group of Canadian consumer businesses associated with Mimran and Rocchetti. Asked whether Roots could share expertise or infrastructure with brands including Tilley Endurables and Kit and Ace, Mimran said that is part of the strategy.
“Absolutely. I mean, that’s the whole idea,” he said.
Mimran and Rocchetti have spent the past several years investing in and developing Canadian consumer brands, with interests including Tilley Endurables, Kit and Ace and Mastermind Toys. Mimran said Kit and Ace has reached 18 locations and remains on a growth track, while Tilley has expanded beyond its historical association with hats into a broader apparel business.
Mimran sees opportunities to use expertise and capabilities across the group while maintaining distinct identities for the individual brands. He described part of JM&A’s broader objective as continuing to “remaster Canadian heritage brands.”
Roots is the largest retail platform to enter that group, bringing an established national store network, a substantial e-commerce business and an existing international presence. Its scale also gives JM&A another platform for product development, sourcing and retail expertise that could have applications elsewhere in the portfolio.
Existing Roots Team Remains Important
Mimran said he has not yet had an opportunity to sit down extensively with the Roots management team, with attention so far centred on completing the transaction. He expects those conversations to take place over the coming months and credited the existing leadership and employees for their stewardship of the brand.
“I think they’ve done a great job,” he said. “They’ve really stewarded the brand very well.”
Roach also emphasized the work done by the Roots team leading into the transaction. The company has returned to profitability and has recorded a sustained period of comparable-sales growth while investing in stores, digital operations and distribution infrastructure.
“We have a very healthy business,” Roach told Retail Insider. “It’s profitable. We have a brand that consumers love.”
She said the team has worked hard to put Roots in its current position and believes the combination of JM&A’s operating expertise and Marquee’s international network can build on that foundation.
The companies have not disclosed what role Roach or individual members of the existing senior leadership team will hold following completion of the transaction.
A Note From Roots Co-Founder Don Green
Mimran also heard from one of the people responsible for creating Roots following announcement of the transaction. Co-founder Don Green sent him what Mimran described as a heartfelt note, an exchange he characterized as “founder to founder.”
“I just assured him that it was going to be in good hands,” Mimran said.
For Mimran, the work ahead begins with product and how Roots expresses its Canadian identity. Those decisions will take time to move through the product-development cycle and into stores. Internationally, JM&A and Marquee will have Roots’ existing business to work from, along with Marquee’s network of partners in markets around the world.
The first visible changes may still be about a year away, but the priorities are beginning to take shape: product and merchandising at home, further work on the small U.S. business, and a larger international push for one of Canada’s best-known retail brands.
