If you want to sell clothes to bigger guys, you need bigger stores.
That’s the simple and promising — but also costly and risky — strategy being pushed by retail guru David Levin as he builds out the Destination XL chain to replace its big-and-tall predecessor, Casual Male.
In one of the most radical remakes of recent retail history, Destination XL CEO Levin has spent heavily since 2010 to open more than 100 DXL stores designed to lure a younger and more affluent clientele.
And now he’s ready to take on Manhattan — opening a Chelsea store this fall.
The new DXL stores typically span 7,000 to 9,000 square feet, more than twice as big as the previous Casual Male format, with wider aisles, bigger dressing rooms and creature comforts that include lounge areas with TVs.
“At a Casual Male store, I could barely get through the aisles sideways myself,” says Levin, who with a jacket size of 44 is a bit smaller than his average customer.
Accordingly, Casual Male has been downsized to 180 stores from a peak of about 500, and could eventually shrink to as few as 30 locations. DXL stores, meanwhile, could eventually more than double their current run of 114 locations.
The upgraded look and floor space of DXL stores have attracted a slew of top brands — Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, True Religion and Michael Kors among them — that previously have done little to cater to so-called “big and tall” customers.
“I think it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Levin told The Post. “Until we put the DXL brand out there, these higher-end brands had no interest in big and tall.”
DXL has been particularly successful in shoes, luring once skittish brands, including UGGs, Sperry, Clarks and Cole-Haan.
“All of these guys used to go up to size 12 or 13 and call it a day,” Levin says. “Now they’re making 14, 15 and 16 a part of their regular production.”
Despite steady progress and sales gains, however, Destination XL shares have shrunk in value of late, hurt by continued losses as Levin continues his capital-spending spree.
“They’ve missed a lot of projections, but it’s hard to give an accurate projection when you’re going into the vast unknown,” says Avondale Partners analyst Mark Montagna, who rates the shares “market perform.”
“There’s no question in my mind they’re on the right track — it’s just a question of when the profits start coming.”