An Interview with Sklar Wilton & Associates Partner, Jennifer Marley, on Frank & Oak’s Retail Challenges.
As the retail landscape in Canada continues to shift, recent store closures have prompted a closer examination of the future of brick-and-mortar retail. To explore these evolving challenges, we’ve turned to the Montreal-based sustainable fashion brand, Frank & Oak, as a case study.
Once a prominent player in the Canadian retail scene, Frank & Oak gained recognition for its commitment to sustainable fashion, operating multiple stores and cultivating a loyal customer base. However, earlier this month, the company filed for creditor protection for the second time in recent years, while exploring options for restructuring.
To understand what possibly led to this shift, our partner, Jennifer Marley, leveraged our Brand Growth Model—a proprietary framework designed to provide clarity at every stage of brand development - to guide a deeper exploration of Frank & Oak’s current situation. Here’s what she had to say, along with the valuable lessons it offers for the broader Canadian retail landscape:
How do Frank & Oak’s financial troubles reflect broader trends in Canadian retail?
I think that the challenges that have hit Frank and Oak might be dubbed as 'Bad luck and Basics'. The bad luck part has hit all retailers hard in Canada. Closed stores during the pandemic, followed by inflation and shrinking budgets have hurt so many. Add to that the 'work from home' trend ' which led to years of wearing super comfortable soft pants, creating desire for comfort and a lapse in the importance of refreshing a wardrobe to look a little sharper for work. We look to the more strategic questions below for the ‘Basics’ part of the story.
What does it say about brick-and-mortar companies in Canada?
While we do see the online channel showing growth in the apparel and footwear market, to us the story isn’t about ‘brick-and-mortar’ as all retail needs to be truly omnichannel to win in today’s market. Retail has never been a business for the faint of heart. Now, more than ever, it's important for retailers to be clear about their strategy and to follow up with flawless execution.
As Strategy and Insights Partner to our clients, we have created the Sklar Wilton Brand Growth Model to help ensure clarity to key strategic questions. Some of these include:
Who To Win With: When Frank and Oak launched in 2012, they targeted Millennials who were 16 to 31 years old at the time. These Millennials are now 29 to 44 years old, putting many in the financially pressured parenting years. A quick look at Tik Tok shows Frank and Oak at 54k Likes while another retailer with a confusingly similar name, Oak and Fort, has 286k Likes. This suggests that Frank and Oak likely didn't become known or top of mind to Gen Z (who are now 13 to 28 years of age).
What to Stand For: Frank and Oak is a brand with a clear point of view; something we love to see. Their clear purpose to ‘Inspire a Better way of Living by creating conscious products that last through time’ is something that is on trend and resonates with many. Did Frank and Oak fail to get this message out there to stand with the likes of other ‘eco’ brands like Kotn, Cos and Everlane?
What to Say: The Consumer segments who care the most about sustainability have also been the ones to re-embrace Vintage (just walk along Bloor Street West in Toronto, or watch the Golden Globes, to see the resurgence there). Additionally, a post-covid boom in homemade or ‘me-made’ hand knitted and sewn clothing has really taken hold with younger consumers. Has Frank and Oak done enough to help these consumers create style wardrobes that really show off their unique personalities?
How To Win: Here’s where things can get interesting…when you look at their website, you see a sea of sameness with the offerings from other retailers. Basics and essentials have a lot of competition from large fast-fashion retailers including Uniqlo, Temu and Shein. Have Frank and Oak had a clear enough point of view for important things like style, colour, fit and comfort in addition to their clear stance on eco friendliness and quality?
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For more insights on how our Brand Growth Model can help your team gain clarity on key focus areas and achieve alignment, reach out! We’re here to help.