Men's Wearhouse Fires Co-Founder And I Guarantee It Guy George Zimmer

George Zimmer may have spent the past decade plus guaranteeing men will like the way they look and the two and a half decades prior to that informally doing doing as much at Men’s Wearhouses across the country, but unfortunately for him, he’s no longer in a position to make any promises about how snazzy the popular company can make people look. This morning, the clothing retailer decided to terminate Zimmer from his chief executive position, effectively ending his involvement, at least on a non-spokesman level.

The history of Men’s Wearhouse began forty years ago when Zimmer, then selling suit samples to businesses out of his trunk, decided to open his first store in Houston, Texas. Since then, the business plan has expanded to almost six hundred locations and is overseen by a board of directors that, until this morning, included Zimmer. At this point, it’s unclear exactly why said board felt the need to distance itself from the public face of the brand, but Zimmer released a statement claiming it was because he questioned where the company was headed. You can read a transcript of his statement below, courtesy of CNN…

An overwhelming majority of us haven’t been in the boardroom for any of these conversations about the future of the company, nor are we privy to any information about how effective of ineffective Zimmer might be as a leader. Consequently, it’s really hard to tell whether the company made the right decision by removing him from power or not. From a marketing standpoint, it’s hard to see how Zimmer’s firing could be anything other than a disaster though, if he, in fact, stops doing commercials. His personal guarantee has gone over very well among consumers since he first started making it in the mid-90s, and it’s going to be uncomfortable and weird watching anyone try to step into his loafers. That being said, there’s always some level of fallout related to the firing of a powerful executive.

In the coming days, the board of directors is supposed to meet with Zimmer to figure out if he will have any future moving forward with the company. No doubt that meeting will be one steaming pile of awkwardness. We’ll let you know what comes from it. Until then, you can check out one of Zimmer’s commercials below. It might not be as flashy as some of the all-time greats, but it is damn effective…