Shelley E. Kohan (00:03)
Hi everybody and thanks for joining our weekly podcast. I’m Shelley Kohan and I’m so excited to welcome Mark Fedyk, President and CEO of Jockey, a brand that’s celebrating 150 years in 2026. And here’s the kicker, you’re still a family-owned business, so still iconic. And today we’re going to talk about what it takes to build a brand that outlasts generations. So Mark, welcome.

Mark Fedyk (00:31)
Well, thank you. That sounds great. Really honored to be a part of the podcast and really honored to be able to chat with you.

Shelley E. Kohan (00:39)
And I

have to say thank you for being a Robin Reports subscriber. I know Robin Lewis would be thrilled to hear that and we always love having our ⁓ friends and community on. So that’s amazing. And I want tell you one other fun fact. So I have literally been wearing jockey since I’m eight years old. Eight.

Mark Fedyk (01:00)
outstanding outstanding that’s fantastic

so about 20 years then

Shelley E. Kohan (01:06)
Exactly. Thank you for saying that. I

was going to kind of play it down and say over a few decades, but yeah, exactly.

Mark Fedyk (01:15)
fantastic.

Well, we appreciate that very much and we hope that you’re as excited and as happy wearing them as we are making them.

Shelley E. Kohan (01:25)
I love

it. know, Jockey is a brand that’s built on quality. what I’m thinking about 150 years, the first thing that kind of comes to mind is I teach, you know, retail strategies and we go through the all the disruptions in retail. I don’t go back all the way back to, you know, 1876. ⁓ But when you look at this, how has your brand survived all these massive disruptions of retail?

Mark Fedyk (01:50)
Right.

Well, it’s a great question and I think it goes back to what you said earlier ⁓ to be quite candid. think it is because we are family owned still today ⁓ that we have been around for 150 years celebrating our 150th anniversary this year. But I think that being family owned has allowed us to not only endure but prosper and thrive through all of the volatility and all of the disruptions that have occurred in our industry and in our

economy and our globe. ⁓ So, you know, it’s a blessing, I would say, to be family-owned ⁓ because we have the opportunity to make sure that we stick to the foundational ⁓ values of the brand ⁓ even throughout those short-term disruptions and that short-term volatility.

Shelley E. Kohan (02:45)
also think, so when I think about what you do, Mark, and like when you’re going to work every day, you’re like the steward of this brand that started in, like I said, 1876. I mean, what does that feel like?

Mark Fedyk (02:58)
We are. I would say I’m not, but we are as a whole as a team. You’re absolutely right about that. you know what? It’s interesting the way you’ve described it because we take that stewardship very seriously. ⁓ I believe that when I come in to work each day, as does the team, that our responsibility is to make sure that there’s another 150 years for Jockey. That there is a company for the owners’ children and grandchildren and great grandchildren to have. ⁓

impact of the brand on our consumers and on our partners, on our associates, and even on the communities in which we operate, that that continues. So ⁓ it is a weighty responsibility sometimes, but ⁓ I will also say working for a private family-owned company, ⁓ we feel the appreciation regularly.

Shelley E. Kohan (03:51)
That’s amazing. And even when I think about some of the brands that have reached that 150 year mark, know, Brooks Brothers, Macy’s, Kiehl’s, Carhartt, Levi, I mean, that’s a pretty good group to be associated with.

Mark Fedyk (04:03)
It’s a group that we are proud to be considered with, absolutely.

Shelley E. Kohan (04:09)
I love it. And of course, your big claim to fame, if I may say so, is when you introduced the iconic men’s wide front brief back in 1935. And you also were one of the first brands ever to sew the name in the waistband, right?

Mark Fedyk (04:26)
Yes, we were. We…

We’re ⁓ inventors at heart. So ⁓ I like to say that if it weren’t for Jockey, us guys would still be wearing those ⁓ Union suits. So yeah, we are really, it’s part of our DNA, Shelley, being innovators and being inventors. From the time that Reverend Cooper started the company back in 1876, ⁓ one of his primary motivations was to find a better answer. It happened to be for socks at the time.

and ultimately the company expanded into undergarments. But we are inventors and we’re always looking for a better way or a way to solve a problem. Sometimes solve a problem that consumers don’t even know that they have yet, right? An example being, you know, the skimmies product that we invented a few years ago. So, but as you know, invented a lot of milestones for Jockey. The brief, the Y-front, the no panic line promise for women.

Shelley E. Kohan (05:29)
Right.

Mark Fedyk (05:30)
Certainly the waistbands and stitching our name into the waistbands, but a lot of inventions here at Jockey.

Shelley E. Kohan (05:37)
feel like this kind of inventor mentality, innovation inventor mentality really is what keeps you like culturally grounded in what you’re doing every day. Would you say that to be true?

Mark Fedyk (05:49)
Yeah, I think it’s a non-negotiable ⁓ part of our brand positioning or our brand ethos. ⁓ Really what is unwavering for us is our commitment to quality, which you mentioned earlier. ⁓

just uncompromising quality and relentless in terms of innovation, ⁓ making sure that ⁓ the fit of product ⁓ is ⁓ uncompromising, know, and just making sure that we are building trust with consumers. know, it takes a long time to build trust with the consumer. It takes a very short time to lose it. So we’re really focused on that. But you’re absolutely right. The inventor mentality, the innovation,

is absolutely a part of our DNA. And also, you know, our think, the value of authenticity, ⁓ making sure the innovation is real. So that it works and it’s real is also part of it. And ⁓ add a little creativity there. That’s also part of part of our ethos. So we like to break it for a few rules now and then.

Shelley E. Kohan (06:45)
⁓ Mm-hmm.

I love that. I’m going to ask you some of those rules you’re breaking later on in the podcast. I’m interested in what you’re doing there. But I do think consumers want that trust and they want the authenticity from their brands that they’re doing business with. And I’m just wondering, so you talked about being family owned and how great that is. You get lots of recognition and kudos and the inventor mentality, but you also don’t have all these pressures from Wall Street, the quarterly earnings that

Mark Fedyk (07:05)
Sure.

Shelley E. Kohan (07:30)
really force companies, I think, to make decisions that may not be long-term decisions. So how does not being part of a public company actually change the way you make business decisions day to day?

Mark Fedyk (07:44)
Yeah, great question. And I’ve been a part of both. I spent the majority of my career in public companies.

But I will say having now experienced a family owned a private company, it’s a blessing that there really is indescribable. So I would say that, you know, the biggest thing, the best way I could possibly describe it is that we make generational decisions. We’re really not pressured to worry about what’s going to happen this month, this quarter, this year, even in the next three to five. Right. What’s most important is that we’re making the right decisions for the next

10, 20, 50 years. So it’s a blessing, it’s invigorating, and I like to say that we don’t have to chase, because we’re thinking about stakeholders as a whole, being owners, being employees, being partner suppliers, being communities, because we’re thinking about stakeholders, not just shareholders. ⁓

You know, I think we are blessed that we don’t have to chase unhealthy growth and we don’t have to chase unhealthy partnerships. We can focus on relationships that are deep and that, you know, preserve the brand and grow the brand and expand the brand in the long term.

Shelley E. Kohan (09:09)
So what do you think is the biggest threat to a legacy brand today? Is it competition? Is it irrelevant? What’s your kind of biggest threat in your mind?

Mark Fedyk (09:23)
That’s a great question. One that I didn’t think you would ask. You know, it’s interesting. You know, when you’re 150 years old…

Shelley E. Kohan (09:26)
Hehehehehe

Mark Fedyk (09:33)
You’ve kind of seen a lot. You’ve seen a lot of disruptions from ⁓ World Wars to pandemics to the disruptions that we as retailers think about, right? Changes in distribution channels, changes in competitors. So, ⁓ you know, I think probably the biggest threat that I think about, it’s really complacency. It’s internal. It’s not really so much external as it is internal.

We just have to make sure that we’re pushing ourselves, I think. So I think complacency is a threat. And I think the other threat ⁓ or the other challenge is just making sure you don’t lose sight and connection with the consumer. There are a lot of ways to get distracted from the consumer and the consumer voice. There’s also a lot more ways and a lot more data and lot more mediums that we have today that help us to stay connected to the consumer. But I think probably one of the other things

threats or challenges would be just making sure we stay connected to the consumer.

Shelley E. Kohan (10:39)
think the consumer is now shifting at warp speed. So staying on top of them is like ⁓ a full-time job, right?

Mark Fedyk (10:48)
Warp speed would be an understatement. You’re absolutely right.

Shelley E. Kohan (10:52)
Okay, I want to go back to something you said about ⁓ the real deep partnerships and partnerships you have. And one of my big questions for you is really around balancing the D to C to the wholesale and what’s the right mix. I know many brands really struggle even today to find the right balance in direct-to-consumer. ⁓ And I know that currently the direct-to-consumer business just globally for apparel is somewhere between 20 to over 40%.

There’s a lot of companies that kind of stumbled when they first went direct to consumer. I’ll give the example of Levi as an example. But now Levi’s like, I think it’s over 50 % now of their revenue is direct to consumer. So what do you think the right balance is? And what does DDC give you that you can’t get from wholesale?

Mark Fedyk (11:44)
Right. Right. OK. So that’s a big question. I would say a couple of things there. I think first of all when you think about our business in our category right. Interwear and apparel.

think about just kind of the broad appeal that our brand has. I think you start there. So from my perspective, there is a role for all of those elements in the distribution ecosystem that you mentioned, whether that’s wholesale partnerships or DTC or stores, right, e-commerce marketplaces. There’s a role when your brand operates in a category that is this ubiquitous and has such broad appeal. Let’s face it, we all

kind of need it, right? So I think that there’s a role for all of those points of distribution. And certainly they do evolve over time. And I think balance is a key. But for us, ⁓ making sure that we understand the role of each of those distribution channels is really critical, and that we don’t confuse those roles. ⁓ D to C, absolute, and e-commerce.

Shelley E. Kohan (12:28)
Yes, true, definitely.

Mark Fedyk (12:57)
particular but D2C as a whole absolutely gives us one of the finest places to tell our story and this isn’t an upstart story this isn’t an invented story this is a story that has built over 150 years so I think being able to tell that the story of our brand and the values of our brand ⁓ D2C is absolutely the the best place to do that you know places like the marketplaces give us the opportunity

Shelley E. Kohan (13:05)
Yeah

Mark Fedyk (13:27)
opportunity for reach, right? To reach people who may not know anything about our brand. So and wholesale, our wholesale partnerships again give us the opportunity to expand the breadth of our appeal, our awareness very, very quickly, right? With a partner. So I think that each plays a role and I think balance is important. I think making sure you’re clear on the role of each is important.

you

Shelley E. Kohan (13:58)
That’s great. You talked about marketplaces. So that’s something new that’s come up in the past, I don’t know, decade or so. But also, you probably don’t know this, but I actually started my career at Bloomingdale’s Macy’s and Jocky was a huge wholesale partner in the department store structure. So I would be… I was a person responsible for logistics for Macy’s West and we had to make sure everything was filled. That was our role for 85 stores.

Mark Fedyk (14:15)
I did read that, I did read that, yes.

Shelley E. Kohan (14:27)
But when I think about the retail landscape and I look at department stores, that footprint of department stores has been shrinking both in square footage and also in numbers. So how do you shift and how do you still protect that revenue? Is it going DTC? Is it doing something else? Marketplaces, maybe?

Mark Fedyk (14:27)
Absolutely.

That’s right.

Yeah, so you’re absolutely right. When ⁓ we talk about this internally a lot, ⁓ there was a time not long ago at this company when we were calling on servicing, we had over 60 department store chains that were our partners. Right. Now we’re down to what? 10 to 12. So, but while the number, the quantity of partnerships has changed, ⁓

Shelley E. Kohan (15:07)
Wow.

Mark Fedyk (15:17)
I think that the relationships have deepened. Certainly those that are around ⁓ today, we have very deep partnerships with. So we work a lot closer. We’re a high touch, high service type of business. So, you know, through consolidation, many of those partners have a lot more stores. ⁓ So, you know, we end up ⁓ with, I think, great exposure and great presentation and great support from those partners. So I think that’s part.

one. Right. So as the quantity has dropped the quality has deepened and expanded. And certainly you have to make sure for a brand like ours that you’re following the customer as the customers shopping habits change and they find new places to go to purchase your product. You have to go with them. Right. As long as the partner ⁓ as long as we’re in agreement and in alignment on how we’re going to operate with the brand and you know that

Shelley E. Kohan (16:00)
Yeah.

Mark Fedyk (16:16)
We share the same values on how we go to market. So you have to look at things like the general merchandise ⁓ stores. You have to look at things like the clubs. You have to look at things like the marketplaces. But again, I think what’s most important is listen to the consumer, follow the consumer, and just make sure that there’s alignment and agreement with how we go to market with those partners, and that you understand the role of each of those. It goes back to what we said before. What’s the role of each of those?

Shelley E. Kohan (16:43)
Yeah. So let me ask you

a question. So I’m not shy. I’m Gen X. I’m the forgotten generation that no brand cares about that ever did a study on. I’m just curious that, you know, we have these Gen Zs and Gen Alpha just started working in the workforce, you know, last year. So now they’re going to start earning some money. But how are you going to capture this young audience? And keep in mind that Gen Z will be 27 % of

Mark Fedyk (16:54)
you

Shelley E. Kohan (17:13)
global consumer spend in four years.

Mark Fedyk (17:16)
Yep, yep, yep, yep. Our kids and our kids’ kids, they’re coming fast, so I’m quite a bit older than you. yeah, so I think, you know, ⁓ without sounding, you know, boring or consistent, I think, again, I think it goes back a little bit for us, the values that we have ⁓ stood for.

that we have stood on for 150 years. So the values of quality, the values of innovation, the value of creativity, the value of comfort and fit, the value of authenticity, all of those things aren’t going to change. And I think that there is a place for gen alpha, gen X, gen Z, gen Y, and whatever gen comes next to that.

that connects and it resonates and it’s relevant for them. I think probably the bigger challenge is just making sure that we are speaking to them where, when and how that they want to be spoken to. So for us, think it’s more about what are the mediums that we’re going to use. ⁓

Shelley E. Kohan (18:29)
Hmm.

Mark Fedyk (18:33)
50 years ago, 25 years ago, it might have been a billboard in Times Square, right? And today it’s a video on TikTok, right? So I think you just have to be really consistently aware of where those segments of the population are consuming your message, consuming the media, and where they’re going to purchase the product, whether that’s in a physical brick and mortar location, what type of store is it that they prefer to shop in, or online.

Shelley E. Kohan (18:42)
Bye.

Mark Fedyk (19:03)
So I think it’s as much about mediums, messaging, and where they’re shopping as it is, anything else. The values that brought us here, they’re not changing.

Shelley E. Kohan (19:15)
So let’s talk more about this. In the beginning of the podcast, you mentioned sometimes decisions, you know, maybe don’t make the right decisions or maybe you hold off on decision. So one of the questions I have is like, can you recall a time when you passed on, you know, a decision or a strategy that you thought looked great short term, but then you said this is not a long haul strategy.

Mark Fedyk (19:39)
Yeah, I can. I won’t get into maybe the specifics and the names, but from time to time, we have been approached ⁓ from folks ⁓ to license their brands and make product for them.

We certainly always listen. We certainly always engage in those conversations. But I think that for the most part, we’ve stayed pretty true to making sure that we spend our time and our energy, our relationships, and our finances on building this brand and making sure that this brand stays relevant.

Shelley E. Kohan (20:22)
love that. That’s a great example. Thank you for that. ⁓ So what are you thinking about in terms of five years from now or 50 years from now?

Mark Fedyk (20:33)
50 years from now, wow. Well, got a grandbaby, so 50 years from now.

Shelley E. Kohan (20:35)
you

Bye.

Mark Fedyk (20:44)
On a more serious note, think for us, whether you’re thinking about the next five, the next 25, or the next 50, what is probably most important to us is to expand the reach of the brand. There are so many consumers yet that don’t know our story.

Shelley E. Kohan (20:58)
Mm-hmm.

Mark Fedyk (21:04)
And I think that’s what’s incredibly important. The story’s not going to change very much. And the values aren’t going to change. But I think really the biggest focus that we have is expanding the reach of the story so that more people are exposed to it. When I think about

everything happening in the world today and probably over the last hundred and fifty years. know there’s a few things in life that you’d like to be able to trust. think that regardless of your generation that you we’re looking for institutions, organizations, brands, whatever that we can trust. And I think Jockey is one of them and getting that message out, letting the consumer of course decide. But I think getting that message out is really really important and that’s probably the biggest focus we have as a

Shelley E. Kohan (21:44)
Mm-hmm.

Mark Fedyk (21:57)
as a brand, a team, as a leadership group.

Shelley E. Kohan (22:02)
That’s great. So if you could give advice to a brand that’s maybe five years old and trying to build something that’s going to be 150, what would you tell them?

Mark Fedyk (22:12)
Yeah, I would say stick to the knitting is probably a ⁓ dated phrase, but stick to the knitting, stick to the values that…

brought you there, right? mean, as a startup, you’ve obviously as a startup, as a new brand, you’ve obviously cracked the market for a reason, right? There was something there that whether that was a feature, a benefit, a story, you know, a relationship, ⁓ you know, stick to that and don’t forget that. That’s, you know, that’s those companies values, right? That the consumer is engaging with and that are appealing to them. And I think you have to not lose sight of that.

And it’s so easy to be distracted. It’s so easy to lose sight of that. And I think just sticking to the values that brought you into the game is incredibly important. And, you know, whenever possible, make decisions that are right for the long term. Whether your long term is 10 or 15 before you want to cash it out or 50 or 100 or 150 before you give it to your grandkids. Just I think you have to use that lens of

generational decision-making or long-term decision-making ⁓ as much as possible. There’s, to your point, there’s so much pressure on the quarterly and the annual earnings and that is just not the way you build a business. It’s not the way you build a brand. And I think that’s, I was thinking about it this morning, just kind of thinking about our conversation. You know, that, there’s always been that pressure, right, from Wall Street and from, but I think it’s even more,

Shelley E. Kohan (23:48)
always.

Mark Fedyk (23:52)
It’s

much more consequential. It’s much more significant now because, you know, a few decades back, the stock market wasn’t as accessible.

to retail investors, right, as it is today. You know, there were large investors, there were institutional investors, and they tended to have a longer term horizon. I mean, the reality is now retail investors are, right, I mean, it’s my kids. They’re buying and selling every day on the apps, right, on the phone. So I think the pressure just has even increased.

Shelley E. Kohan (24:20)
Totally.

Yeah,

our kids are in Robin Hood with accounts at 18. You know, they’re in there and they’re getting involved in it. And you and I had been around a long time in the industry. So I know you remember this, but back in the day, public companies would report every month. Do remember that? And then they got so tired of this whiplash that they would get from the market and from Wall Street that then they went to court to be reporting.

Mark Fedyk (24:45)
That’s right.

Right, right, and quite frankly I’d love to see the quarterly reporting go away.

Shelley E. Kohan (24:59)
You and every other major public company.

Mark Fedyk (25:02)
Right. Except for my

competitors, I do want them to report quarterly and extensively.

Shelley E. Kohan (25:06)
⁓

that’s so funny. All right, so what are you most excited about? This is my last question. What are you most excited about in the next year that you could share with us?

Mark Fedyk (25:18)
Well, I think the way I would answer that question is I’m most excited about this year, right? The year that you celebrate the 150th. I mean, it’s just an iconic moment, one that will never be possible for any of us again here at Jockey. But we’re really excited about this year and there’s a lot to be excited about. There’s, you know, we’re excited about the marketing campaigns that we’re putting out there that are amplifying and expanding the story and the history of our brand and putting that in front of new potential consumers.

Shelley E. Kohan (25:24)
Yeah.

Mark Fedyk (25:48)
⁓ We’re really excited about the products that we’ve created. We’ve brought some limited edition product collections to bear. ⁓ About once every 60 to 90 days we’ll be dropping. Just started to drop now. ⁓ So we’re really excited about that. Taking some retro designs and making them relevant to today. So we’re really excited about that. ⁓ I’m very excited. You know, in May of this year we will celebrate

the anniversary of the brand with our global family. So with all of our associates, with all of our partners, suppliers across the world ⁓ here ⁓ in the state of Wisconsin up in Milwaukee. And we’re excited about that because it’s it the reality is that this company has been built on the shoulders of a lot of giants but also a lot of partners and to be able to pull them all together in one place and to be able to just say thank you and

and truly express appreciation, celebrate the accomplishments, maybe a little bit of reminiscing going on. I’m really excited about that. So that’s pretty energizing, have to say.

Shelley E. Kohan (27:01)
That’s great.

That’s super exciting. Well, that’s just a month away too. So ⁓ I think that’s fantastic. And congratulations on 150 years. And thank you so much for joining us today. It’s been great speaking with you.

Mark Fedyk (27:17)
Thank you very much. It’s been my pleasure. Thank you very much.