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Menlo Club Review: Grid on a wooden background
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Menlo Club Review: Not Your Average Subscription Box

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Last Updated: Apr 4, 2024
7 min read

Menlo Club may not come with frilly toothpicks like a club-sandwich, but there are other pros and cons to this brand. 

We’ve subscribed to Menlo Club to see if this membership is worth the money. When you’re done reading, you’ll know for yourself. 

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Menlo Club

Bottom line: Its style matching may be less personalized compared to some of its competitors, but after experiencing Menlo Club's fantastic value for money and unique membership perks for myself, it’s no surprise that they’ve rapidly ballooned to over 100,000 active members.

Ratings: The Adult Man Image/IconQuality of Products The Adult Man Image/IconCuration The Adult Man Image/IconValue for Money The Adult Man Image/IconSubscription Management The Adult Man Image/IconPackaging
Pros:
  • Excellent value for money
  • High quality of materials for the price
  • Unique membership perks with the potential to add a lot of value
  • Fantastic way for a budget conscious guy to build or expand upon his wardrobe
Cons:
  • Limited to the Five Four Group range of brands
  • Style quiz could be improved
(Use code TAMFALL45 when signing up to get your first package for $45 (usually $60)---includes a hoodie & tee from Melrose Place, AND a pair of Bowery's from New Republic)

Menlo Club has been on my long list of ‘brands I’ve gotta review’ for quite some time.

Actually, it’s been so long that the name ‘Five Four Club’ is crossed out next to it. That was this subscription service’s original name before it was rebranded to Menlo Club in January 2018.

But why were they on my list?

Well, for one thing, they’re popular. They’re the cool kid.

And in the men’s fashion space, that always at least gets my attention.

I’ve also (generally) heard pretty good things about them. Especially since they’ve rebranded. They now include a wider selection of their brands as part of their subscription box, among other perks.

I touch on this in more detail below, before diving into the sign-up process, and then unboxing the Menlo Club box I got and sharing my overall thoughts on it with you.

Let’s get to it.

What Is Menlo Club?

Menlo Club is a men’s clothing subscription service.

Fill out a short style quiz and bam—you get a curated package of two to three items shipped to your door on the monthly.

Sounds pretty similar to most other stylist focused subscription box services, right?

Well, there are a couple of things that make Menlo Club unique.

Firstly, unlike many other boxes that mix and match an ever-changing lineup of brands (Trendy Butler as an example), every Menlo Club box only features brands that fall under the ‘Five Four Group’ umbrella. These are:

  • Five Four
  • Grand Running Club
  • New Republic
  • Melrose Place

In addition to the above brands, Five Four Group is the parent company for Menlo Club, as well as the company’s e-commerce site, Menlo House.

And this relates to the other thing that I think makes Menlo Club a little different from other boxes. Because they’re curating items from their own brands—they can offer perks that more general subscription boxes may struggle to offer on a consistent basis.

As a club member, you receive an additional 20% off the Menlo House store, in addition to free shipping on all your orders, which is always a plus. You also get access to custom curated content.

What Happened to Five Four Club?

If you’ve been around the men’s subscription box game for a while you’ve probably heard of Five Four Club.

With over 100,000 members as of 2017, and as mentioned in my intro, this was the original name of Five Four Group’s subscription service brand. Five Four Club was rebranded to Menlo Club in January 2018.

And if you ask me? It makes sense.

While I’m sure it was a big decision from a marketing standpoint, the truth is, they include more brands as part of their subscription box now.

You don’t only get items from Five Four anymore. You get items from all the brands on offer on the Menlo House site.

The messaging is clearer.

Don’t care about marketing? Roger that. Let’s get to the review.

Menlo Club Review

The Sign-Up Process

Signing up for Menlo Club is super simple. The quiz took me less than two minutes to complete.

First, you select your style from the below choices:

Menlo Club Sign Up Select Style

I went for the ‘Classic’ option.

Next, you enter your sizing preferences:

Menlo Club Sign Up Select Size

And, you’re done.

Menlo Club Unboxing: What Did I Get?

Full Disclosure: A traditional club subscription comes in a nicely branded package. My products came in a cardboard box because the brand wanted me to see a couple different style options. Because of this, do take note that I got more than what you’d usually see in one box. A traditional New Republic club package would come with an accessory, like socks, not a jacket or shirt.

Inside my package, I found a shoebox next to some cellophane wrapped clothing.

The packaging wasn’t the fanciest thing I’ve seen; however, the Menlo Club just rebranded its packaging in 2019 to be much more eye-catching.

But with that said, as your Grandma will tell you—it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

And here’s what I got:

Menlo Club Review: Grid on a wooden background
  1. A pair of white ‘Kurt’ Leather Sneakers by New Republic;
  2. A navy and white heavy knit jacket from the Nick Wooster Five Four collection; and
  3. A charcoal long sleeve button-down shirt by Five Four.

I found the sneakers on the Menlo House store, but the jacket and the button-up are exclusive members-only items.

Menlo Club
(Use code TAMFALL45 when signing up to get your first package for $45 (usually $60)---includes a hoodie & tee from Melrose Place, AND a pair of Bowery's from New Republic)

Its style matching may be less personalized compared to some of its competitors, but after experiencing Menlo Club's fantastic value for money and unique membership perks for myself, it’s no surprise that they’ve rapidly ballooned to over 100,000 active members.

Sign Up Now

Item 1: White Kurt Leather Sneakers by New Republic

Menlo Club White Kurt Leather Sneakers by New Republic Side

When presented with a choice between a shoe box and some cellophane wrapped clothing, I’m always opening the shoe box first.

And I’m not sure if it’s because at the time I was genuinely in the market for a new pair of white sneakers, but my feeling in taking these babies out of the box was that I was off to a great start here.

The Kurt by New Republic is a white low-top lace up sneaker. It has an all leather upper and 100% rich microsuede lining.

They’re easily my favorite item from the box. To be honest, for $60 I’d be happy if these are all I got (note: they retail for $89 on the Menlo House online store). Not to mention that these sneakers were voted by GQ as the Best White Sneaker for Under $100.

They look crisp and they’re super comfortable. I’ve been catching compliments on them all over the place. They’re my new go-to white sneakers for casual wear.

Item 2: Nick Wooster Heavy Knit Jacket by Five Four

Menlo Club Nick Wooster Five Four Collection Navy and White Heavy Knit Jacket

The jacket was my second favorite item in the box. It’s navy with white lines on the cuffs, waist, and collar. It’s 60% cotton and 40% polyester.

It feels decently soft but if you have any kind of feel for fabrics you’d know it isn’t 100% cotton by touching it. But you do get the benefit of added durability (and obviously affordability) with a poly-cotton blend.

The jacket forms part of Five Four’s exclusive Nick Wooster collection—named after well-known men’s streetwear designer, Nick Wooster who worked closely with Five Four in designing the piece.

Menlo Club Nick Wooster Five Four Collection Navy and White Heavy Knit Jacket Tag

I like the design. It suits my style and it fits well.

That said, I’m not huge on poly-cotton and so I’m not sure I’d buy it standalone. But I’ll definitely get some wear out of it and so I’m happy with it as part of a $60 box.

Item 3: Long Sleeve Button-Down Shirt by Five Four

Menlo Club Five Four Grey Long Sleeve Button-Down

The final piece in my Menlo Club box was a charcoal long sleeve button-down shirt by Five Four. It’s 100% cotton with a single pocket.

It has buttons on the front collar (which if you’re not aware, is the reason why it’s called a button-down) and a single button on the collar at the back of the neck.

Menlo Club Five Four Grey Long Sleeve Button Down Collar Tag

For a long sleeve plain button-down, it’s okay as a basic staple piece. And I like that it’s 100% cotton.

But would I buy it standalone?

Probably not.

The color and design just doesn’t grab me. And it also runs a little long on me at the waist for me which doesn’t help its cause.

This is the only item of the three that I don’t see getting much if any wear from me.

My Overall Thoughts On Menlo Club

What I Like

  • As long as you subscribe with an open mind, you can get fantastic value for money. For $60 I got an awesome pair of sneakers (seriously, they’re compliment magnets) that I would’ve easily spent the advertised $89 on as a standalone buy, which made the jacket and the button-down shirt simply a bonus.

  • The quality is good for the price. Overall, I was impressed with the materials, stitching, and durability. Yes, they’ve made some cost-saving choices but it’s to be expected at this price point.

  • If you’re a budget conscious guy, Menlo Club is an excellent way for you to build or expand upon your wardrobe—or to simply try clothing items you may not have tried before in order to develop your own personal style.

  • The membership perks such as the 20% free shipping, offers, and curated content are a unique touch. And they could add a lot of value to you in addition to the monthly box, particularly if you like what you see across the Menlo House stores.

What I Don’t Like

  • You’re only get items from the Five Four Group brands. You need to be a fan of Five Four, Grand Running Club, New Republic, and/or Melrose Place or the appeal is going to wear off quickly. Fortunately, they have a wide range of styles available for each brand, and they cycle them frequently.

  • The style matching is quite broad in that you simply choose from four generic styles when signing up. You don’t get a personalized stylist like you do with some other boxes, so it doesn’t adapt to your ideal style over time.

The Verdict

Overall, I’m impressed with what I’ve seen from Menlo Club.

From a pure value for money standpoint, it’s one of the best ‘broadly personalized’ stylist subscription services I’ve looked at. The quality is more than decent for the price point, and when you factor in the added unique membership perks, you’re getting a solid amount of value out of your $60 monthly subscription cost.

It’s clear that building a whopping subscriber base of over 100,000 customers (again, originally as Five Four Club) has taught the brand a thing or two about delivering a positive customer experience.

Yes, I recommend poking around the Menlo House online store before signing up to make sure you’re a fan of the styles they’re offering across their four brands.

But if you’re in any way interested in the Menlo Club service, I’m confident that you won’t regret at least giving them a go.

Menlo Club
(Use code TAMFALL45 when signing up to get your first package for $45 (usually $60)---includes a hoodie & tee from Melrose Place, AND a pair of Bowery's from New Republic)

Its style matching may be less personalized compared to some of its competitors, but after experiencing Menlo Club's fantastic value for money and unique membership perks for myself, it’s no surprise that they’ve rapidly ballooned to over 100,000 active members.

Sign Up Now

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