Rick Forman has been known to take risks before, but the founder and CEO of Forman Mills, the discount clothing warehouse chain, is perhaps taking his biggest chance opening a new location in North Bergen.
Forman’s latest venture, the 25th such store in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Michigan, opened last Saturday at 69th Street and Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, in the lower level of the Pathmark shopping center.
It has been a site where other businesses have failed in the past, including a movie theater that featured Indian “Bollywood” movies.
The new Forman Mills location, which celebrated its grand opening Saturday with appearances and live remotes from two radio stations (La Kalle Spanish radio 105.9 FM and Hot 97), is a 65,000-square foot store where the old movie theater once stood.
The risk is that the location is below ground and out of the way. To gain entrance to the store, you have to go through the 69th Street ramp.
Dancers and bands
“We’re a little worried about the location,” Forman said. “We’re planning to do some crazy things to get shoppers to come. We’re hiring dancers and bands and all kinds of stuff on the highway [Tonnelle Avenue, also known as State Highway Routes 1&9] to show shoppers that we have a store in the back.”
However, Forman received a sweetheart deal from the complex’s owners to put his store at the location, paying about 33 percent of the going lease rate along Tonnelle Avenue.
“We’re getting more of a warehouse or industrial rent,” Forman said. “It was really like dead space. We’re just hoping we can liven it up with the lighting and signs.”
Already, there are several giant signs that alert shoppers of the new store. The bright red sign appears prominently from Tonnelle Avenue, and when motorists turn down 69th Street toward West Side Avenue, they are inundated with yellow and red signs all over the place.
Started at the age of 17
The 47-year-old Forman has taken a different route toward being listed among Fortune Magazine’s Top 500 business personalities.
He started his business in 1977 at the age of 17 by taking an $80 loan from his father, entering the world of retail by attending flea markets.
In 1981, at the age of 21, Forman opened his first store in Pennsauken, N.J., called Forman Knitting.
In 1985, Forman branched out and purchased a warehouse in south Philadelphia, the first Forman Mills Clothing Warehouse. The chain has just grown and expanded ever since.
Forman said that he has taken chances by putting stores where no other businesses wanted to go, like remote locations that were not easily visible from main roads or highways.
In fact, of Forman’s nine New Jersey locations (others in Totowa, Elizabeth and East Orange), seven are in not the best geographic positioning.
Forman loved the North Bergen location because of the area.
“It’s a very diverse area and it has the right demographics,” Forman said. “We’re the kings of urban environment.”
“It really is a great demographic for us,” said Chris Straehle, Forman Mills’ marketing director. “The location is a bit unusual, under ground, under a Pathmark. But we’re going to do our best to overcome that. We’re hoping to be able to draw people there. There is a lot of commercial and retail competition in the area.”
Other stores coming
The Forman Mills store is just a stone’s throw away from the Target Store on Tonnelle Avenue. In the coming months, there will be more commercial additions to the fabric of Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, with the $700 million Vornado commercial development already underway.
The store features handwritten signs and bargains galore, like T-shirts going three for $5.
“It’s one of our staples,” Forman said. “We offer three T-shirts for five bucks at every store. They sell out constantly. I want the place to look and resemble a flea market.”
The store opened just at the right time, with many shoppers doing back-to-school purchases during the first days of business at Forman Mills.
Forman Mills specializes in offering brand-name merchandise that is acquired when other retailers liquidate. They emphasize urban and hip-hop brands like Fubu, Sean John, South Pole and Phat Farm.
Forman knows that he’s taking a risk in North Bergen, but it may turn out to be a worthwhile risk.
“It goes with that concept of a secret find,” Forman said. “I think people switch bags. They’ll buy it at a Forman Mills and they’ll put it in a Macy’s bag.”
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at either OGSMAR@aol.com or jhague@hudsonreporter.com