Mark Cho, owner of the four-unit men's retailer The Armoury, has acquired Ring Jacket — the Japanese tailoring brand and The Armoury's largest vendor — and named Kentaro Nakagomi as creative director, marking a rapid consolidation of his supply chain and brand portfolio.

The moves follow Cho's sale of his stake in London haberdasher Drake's to Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, of Bestseller fame, at the end of last year. Cho said he redirected that capital directly into the Ring Jacket deal.

Who is Ring Jacket and why did Cho buy it?

Ring Jacket was founded in Osaka in 1954 and built its business replicating Ivy League style. Its owner, Kunichi Fukushima, son of the founder, was contemplating retirement with no succession plan in place and chose to sell to Cho.

"We were their number-two client," Cho said. "They were always interested in me being their successor. So I got a nice offer for Drake's and moved that into Ring Jacket."

For sourcing professionals, the deal is a textbook case of a key retailer absorbing its largest supplier to secure production and brand control — The Armoury's in-house brand alone accounts for 80 percent of the company's sales.

Who is the new creative director?

To fill his own former role as creative director of the in-house brand, Cho turned to Kentaro Nakagomi, founder and creative director of Japanese outerwear label Coherence, which sits within the Abahouse International conglomerate.

"I was his first stockist," Cho said, adding that Nakagomi creates "beautiful overcoats" and will continue designing for Coherence alongside his new role.

Nakagomi's debut collection for The Armoury will be unveiled in New York on Oct. 21. Because the spring collection was already in progress when he joined, he worked with the existing Armoury design team and Cho directly on it.

What is Pedder Arcade and why does the rent matter?

The acquisitions sit alongside a parallel real estate strategy. During the pandemic, Cho spent most of his time in Hong Kong and saw the historic Pedder Building — home to his Armoury store — struggling. After six months of negotiations, the landlord agreed to let him redevelop the fifth floor into a European-style shopping arcade.

The result, Pedder Arcade, offers six shops, a bar and a coffee shop. Cho described himself as the "creative director of the property," overseeing public-space design and tenant mix. "We gutted the floor," he said, adding that it was "pretty gnarly" for the first year and a half.

The tenants now include:

• The Armoury flagship
• Lok Man Rare Books, antiquarian bookseller
• Kaneko Optical, the Japanese brand founded in 1958, opening its first Hong Kong flagship
• Phillips Perpetual, the auction house's watch arm
• The Whisky Library
• Davidoff of Geneva cigar lounge and shop

The economics are the headline. "My flagship is there and it does better than it did at the best mall in the city, at one-third of the rent," Cho said. The Armoury closed its former Landmark Central mall store and consolidated it into the Pedder location — a channel decision that cut occupancy cost by roughly two-thirds while lifting performance.

Is Tokyo next?

Buoyed by Pedder Arcade's success, Cho has begun a similar project in Tokyo, though he estimates it will most likely take three years to complete. The site consists of three adjacent buildings with several existing tenants whose leases must expire first — a reminder that redevelopment timelines hinge on lease rollovers, not ambition.

He has already secured one commitment from Sigma, the family-owned camera and equipment manufacturer, and is considering relocating Ring Jacket there as well.

What about New York?

Cho was approached by a landlord on Manhattan's Upper East Side but declined the space, which he felt was too large. "The concept is more fun when it's not that big," he said — though he left the door open should the right opportunity appear.

With Nakagomi's Oct. 21 debut set for New York and the Tokyo project on a multi-year horizon, Cho is positioning The Armoury's next phase around tighter control of brands, buildings and the margins between them.