DEL VECCHIO'S VISION; BROOKS BROTHERS' NEW OWNER WILL WORK TO IMPROVE QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY OF ASSORTMENT.(Statistical Data Included)

Daily News Record, December, 2001 by PALMIERI, JEAN E.

NEW YORK -- Claudio Del Vecchio knows specialty store retailing. And with his planned acquisition of Brooks Brothers, the president and CEO of Retail Brand Alliance has taken a giant step toward his goal of creating a highly specialized retail portfolio of fashion brands.

On Thanksgiving Day, Del Vecchio's Retail Brand Alliance, a $900 million company that owns more than 1,000 Casual Corner, Petite Sophisticates and August Max women's stores, agreed to buy Brooks from Marks & Spencer for $225 million in cash. The British retailer put the venerable U.S. retailer on the block last March as part of a radical restructuring plan to sell or close all non-strategic businesses to concentrate on its core UK retailing. Originally M&S, which had paid $750 million for...