The Evolution of Mark's

It used to be known as Mark’s Work Wearhouse, and was known for overalls, steel toed boots and other work related apparel. In an effort to stay relevant, Mark’s, which is under the Canadian Tire banner has rebranded itself and its stores. With over 380 stores nationwide, this has been a massive effort.  Have you shopped at Mark’s lately?

Mark's old storefront

The Canadian Tire Corporation bought Mark’s Work Wearhouse, a Calgary based company, in 2001 and in the last 12 years have helped make many improvements. The biggest improvement is the newly rebranded Mark’s which is targeting the female demographic. When I was younger, I would never have dreamed of going into Mark’s Work Wearhouse for anything – that’s where construction workers shopped, clearly there couldn’t be anything nice in there. When I got a job with the City of Brampton and needed steel toed boots, I went in and found suitable boots, bought them, and left without looking at anything else in the store. Clearly this was a trend and it needed to change. Firstly they decided to shorten the name. “The words ‘work’ and ‘wearhouse’ over our door were creating misconceptions about the brand,” says Wendy Bennison, vice-president of operations. Mark’s has long been known as a store for the working man, but they wanted to appeal more to women. Mark’s had held the number one spot in Canada for men’s casual wear for years, but they were lagging far behind for the women’s spot. While they are still focusing on durability with their no-iron, fade-resistant, sub-zero insulation, water-resistant fabric, no-pill yoga pants and more, they want to add something more to the shopping experience for women. Some of the things they have updated are the change rooms, which are now larger and better lit. At some stores, they have games for kids to keep them busy while mom shops. In the Toronto Eaton Centre, their store even has a walk in freezer for you to test out cold-weather apparel in simulated 40 degree wind chill conditions.

The new Mark's

Another change they have made hoping to appeal to women is the hiring of Brad Goreski as their spokesperson. He is known for being on the Bravo reality show The Rachel Zoe Project and now his own show It’s a Brad, Brad World. Being a popular Canadian in the fashion industry made him a great choice for the new face of the company. Another great side effect to hiring Goreski is that he is in the process of filming the second season of his reality show. This means that as the camera follow him around; Mark’s will get some free advertising on his show.

With all the new updates in clothing and store appearance, Mark’s is sure to do better with the female demographic. I do a lot of camping, cottaging and hiking so I think I will start checking them out first before making the drive into Toronto to go to MEC or Sporting Life. How do you feel the rebranding has come across? Have you shopped at Mark’s before or will you give them a try now?

http://www.thestar.com/life/fashion_style/2012/10/02/brad_goreski_is_spokesman_for_the_rebranding_of_marks_work_wearhouse_now_just_plain_marks.html?app=noRedirect

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/09/27/joe-lunchbox-does-yoga/