Psycho Bunny | The rabbit who enjoys the return of polo

By the Montreal clothing retailer’s own admission, Psycho Bunny suffers from “a lack of awareness” in Quebec. To remedy the problem, the brand, symbolized by a rabbit, opened a pop-up store during the National Bank Open, where sales of polo shirts, caps, etc. literally exceeded expectations.

This presence in Montreal and Toronto, on the occasion of the most important tennis tournaments in the country, in a space of barely 600 square feet, will generate sales of more than half a million, calculates Bertrand Cesvet, shareholder and creative director.

And for good reason, in Montreal since the start of the Open, it is impossible to set foot on the IGA stadium site without noticing the presence of Psycho Bunny. There is the store, and the people who greet the spectators who have come to see the best racquets in the world all wear clothing with the famous rabbit logo. This is because the company has entered into a three-year partnership with Tennis Canada. The retailer has therefore become the official equipment supplier of Team Canada at the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup. as well as the National Bank Open, which is currently taking place in Montreal and Toronto.

A tennis enthusiast himself, Bertrand Cesvet, whom he met at Jarry Park, saw this presence as a golden opportunity to promote his brand, which specializes in men’s and children’s clothing. The unexpected sales he has recorded since the start of the tournament give him confidence.

“We went all the way. We created specific products for the event,” he says, referring to the jersey designs that feature the bunny alongside tennis rackets. “Then, from the moment visitors pull into the parking lot, the people guiding them to the stadium are dressed as Psycho Bunny. It’s visible and clear. And we’re very well-located on the site. Commercially speaking, it’s really exceptional.”

Bertrand Cesvet, co-founder and former president of the Sid Lee advertising agency, is convinced that this visibility will have an impact on traffic in his three Quebec stores. “I am convinced that it changes everything. The ball chasers will go back to their families with their Psycho Bunny clothes. They will talk about it.”

While the company only had one store in the province at the beginning of the year, at Carrefour Laval, two other locations have recently opened: one at DIX30 in Brossard six weeks ago and the other at the Eaton Centre in Montreal, for the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

If the retailer has been in Quebec since 2021, why does only 15% of the target clientele know the brand?

Today, Psycho Bunny has 11 points of sale in the country, 86 in the United States, 10 in Japan and 1 in Dubai. Within 18 months, the company will have more than 130 stores in North America and Latin America, says Bertrand Cesvet. The rabbit may then make a leap to Europe.

The popularity of polo

To break through, Psycho Bunny is riding a bit of the rise in popularity of the polo shirt. “Our flagship product is a polo shirt. Since COVID-19, men have been buying a lot of polo shirts and fewer shirts. We’re in a phase that’s very, very good for polo shirts.”

The rabbit will therefore try to carve out a place for itself alongside the famous Lacoste crocodile. The fact that one of these animals is much more ferocious than the other does not seem to frighten Mr. Cesvet, whose company produces between 800,000 and a million polo shirts annually.

” [L’important]is putting the polo shirt on the right guy, in the right place, at the right time. It could be in tennis, it could be when you’re on vacation in Greece, when you go to the Hamptons. The acceptability and universality of the product is very interesting.”