Walk into one of Peter Millar’s 22 stores around the country or peruse its website and the concept of a lifestyle brand comes to life.
Sport coats, shoes, shirts, pants, outerwear, women’s wear and accessories that include cologne and sunglasses create a tapestry of sophisticated style that has earned the distinction of being a cut above.
Peter Millar stands apart, not by trying to be all things to all people, but by remaining true to its priorities of providing high quality and attention to detail with a sense of luxury and performance.
While the brand has grown into more than golf apparel, the game and the company’s roots remain essential to Peter Millar.
“Golf is the foundation of what we do,” said Scott Mahoney, chairman and CEO of Peter Millar. “Everything we do is rooted in golf.”
The kinship between the game and the company comes into full focus this week with Peter Millar as the official outfitter of the USGA, giving the company a vast presence at the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
This is the first year of a five-year agreement between Peter Millar and the USGA. The company will outfit officials and volunteers and occupy much of the space in the merchandise center where millions of dollars in sales are anticipated. Special U.S. Open-themed merchandise will also be available.
“(The USGA is) one of the custodians of the game worldwide, and we felt it was a natural fit for Peter Millar. We are a very traditional brand. With what’s going on in the game now, we felt partnering with the USGA would solidify the business approach we’ve had for a long time,” said Todd Martin, president of Peter Millar’s golf division.
“The U.S. Open is the biggest thing we do. The attention and the engagement that Peter Millar has had since we started has been amazing. They are a golf company at their core. Their golf DNA is second to none.” – Mary Lopuszynski
The company, an independently managed subsidirary of the Swiss luxury holding company Richemont, has significant relationships with Augusta National Golf Club, the PGA of America and the R&A, and by becoming the USGA’s official outfitter, Peter Millar is further ingrained in the culture of golf.
“The U.S. Open is the biggest thing we do. The attention and the engagement that Peter Millar has had since we started has been amazing,” said Mary Lopuszynski, senior director of licensing and U.S. Open merchandising for the USGA. “They are a golf company at their core. Their golf DNA is second to none.”
The Peter Millar team has been working with Walker Cup captain Mike McCoy in outfitting his squad when it faces Great Britain and Ireland at St. Andrews later this year. Without giving away the specific designs, the focus will be on classic styles and fabrics with some performance elements built in.
Of more immediate concern is this week in Los Angeles, where golf shirts, pullovers and outerwear, among other items, will keep the on-site staff busy staying up with the demand.
It is another step in the careful, disciplined growth of a company that began in 2001 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and remains based there while sourcing products globally.
What began with some cashmere sweaters and golf shirts has grown into a brand that has cultivated a cachet that sets it apart. Mahoney and others have also been careful not to oversaturate the market, adding to the allure of the brand.
Peter Millar isn’t available in every golf shop. The company has identified its providers and tends not to add new clubs unless another club decides to move in a different direction. The brand is available in about 20 percent of the U.S. golf market, Martin said, including some stores such as Nordstrom.
“We don’t sell at every club. I don’t think there are any other brands that say no. It’s not out of arrogance. To keep it special and unique you can’t sell to every club and every store in town,” Mahoney said.
That model of blanketing the marketplace has proven to be detrimental to multiple golf apparel companies in the past.
“We don’t have an ideal profile of it being super exclusive. There are plenty of resorts and daily access clubs that carry it,” Martin said. “It’s like golf clubs where there are only so many spots available. We haven’t had the turnover in our existing accounts to make room for new ones.”
With 22 retail stores now open around the country, Peter Millar can offer the full experience to consumers.
“We did that to show the breadth of products we have,” Mahoney said. “You can’t find everything in a golf shop. You can’t get the full feel in a golf shop of what the brand is trying to be. It gives people a window to see everything.”
There are multiple collections within the brand – Crown, Crown Sport, Crown Crafted, Peter Millar Seaside and Peter Millar Active – each touching on a different element of what consumers might want.
The popular Crown Crafted line is Italian-styled and offers options that can take someone from morning through the evening with tailored jackets and refined styles.
Traditional styles make up approximately 75 percent of Peter Millar’s catalog, Mahoney said, with new items filling in the rest.
Over time, Peter Millar pants have become an increasingly popular item. The brand helped ignite the shift toward five-pocket pants with their eb66 offerings, and the evolution of stylish pants with a performance element such as the Bingham pants with four-way stretch have been very successful.
The brand has found that many men will buy one style of pants in multiple colors, using them as a foundation for their wardrobes.
Peter Millar also owns G/FORE, a Los Angeles-based brand that offers what it calls “disruptive luxury”. It’s edgier than the Peter Millar brand, and it built its reputation with high-quality, high-end golf shoes.
Peter Millar itself remains based in North Carolina, with two warehouses in Durham. When orders go out from the warehouse, individually wrapped mints go with every package, a tiny touch that resonated years ago and lives on.
The Raleigh headquarters is a converted warehouse with concrete floors and brick walls.
“It’s cool. It’s not a fancy place,” Mahoney said. “We never want to think we’re a big company. We want to know our customers.”