George Zimmer Launches National Tailor Network Service
George Zimmer, the founder of Men’s Wearhouse, announced his new business today: zTailors is an online service that connects men and women to a national network of tailors that will make home or office visits.
“It’s Uber for tailors,” Zimmer told the New York Times.
In a press statement, he elaborated: “A premium tailoring experience shouldn’t be a luxury available to a select few. After four decades of working hand-in-hand with tailors, I saw an opportunity to combine the artistry of their work with the power of technology to expand access to quality tailoring and propel this age-old craft into a high tech and high touch experience for the next generation. With zTailors, anyone can now have access to a personal tailor at their convenience, a service previously available only to the wealthy.”
Zimmer will be the company’s chairman; the CEO is Scott Silverstein, a former president of Men’s Wearhouse’s Twin Hill corporate apparel subsidiary.
So far the service is available in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, with the rest of the country launching by the end of the summer.
Tailors will visit customers for free and return tailored items within a week. The tailors in the zTailors network have at least five years of experience.
ZTailors is actively recruiting qualified tailors to join its network. According to the website, zTailors collects a 35% administration and referral fee for each transaction, leaving a 65% commission for the tailors. On the tailors’ end, scheduling is done via an app on a smart phone.
The launch confirms rumors we reported on in March that Zimmer was working on something, but the industry thought it would be an e-commerce tuxedo rental startup called zTux. Zimmer had apparently filed more than a dozen trademarks for zTux, but that business doesn’t appear to be moving forward.
