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By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
Llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com

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Canada's high-end men's wear business sector is bracing for a downturn in sales as the economy slows.

"For the first time, we are seeing a little bit of a shrinking in what we would call the luxury market," said Warwick Jones, president of Hamilton, Ont.-based Coppley Apparel Group.

"Everyone is being affected, more so south of the border than in Canada."

Jones was in Fredericton this week as part of a Canadian tour to talk to retailers about managing the downturn now and over the next 12 to 18 months.

The men's wear industry in Canada is worth about $700 million a year. Coppley has about 600 employees in Hamilton.

But the market for $4,000 men's suits is starting to cool.

"There are layoffs taking place in the financial sector," said Jones. "Lawyers aren't as busy as they were. Banks are laying off in senior positions."

He said retailers who have been used to a steady business in the past now are seeing changes and they're having to make some changes in the management of their business.

Instead of ordering a large shipment once or twice a year, retailers will have to order smaller shipments more often, said Jones. That means working closely with a supplier such as Coppley to share inventory costs, he said.

The trade name for that is continuous replenishment.

He said it reduces risk and improves profit margins.

Coppley is also changing, he said. The company can produce a custom suit in seven days rather than the traditional four to six weeks, he said.

Changes in the economy also mean retailers have to provide more care and attention to regular customers, said Jones.

"Get him in the store to do something, even if it is just to pour him a cup of coffee. But stay in touch. He will come back when he is ready."

Paul Simmonds of Fredericton-based Robert Simmonds said that so far Fredericton remains a good market for men's wear.

"We don't have the ups or the downs that other market places in the country do," he said. "Knock on wood, so far so good."

But Simmonds isn't taking any chances.

He has already implemented prudent inventory management and is presenting fresher goods in more regular intervals.

He said Coppley is a good partner in that aspect. He's also following Jones's advice about customer relations.

"We try to keep in touch with all our regular clients," said Simmonds. "Communication is certainly important in these times."

Not all the news in the high-end men's wear business is bad.

The fall of the Canadian dollar is helping companies.

"Money that might have gone to the States, particularly for Christmas shopping, holiday shopping, will stay here because it is just not as valuable as it was," said Jones. "For us as a manufacturer it is fantastic because we do 50 per cent of our business south of the border."