What are the current trends in men’s attire? We are seeing a huge resurgence in dressing. Guys really taking care and caring about a suit. For the last four or five years, we have definitely seen a dumbing down of fashion and guys doing business casual, which is great, but we are seeing a resurgence. A lot of our C-level guys and prospective C-level guys are moving back into caring about their dressing and caring about their furnishings. It’s great to see.
Our big slogan here is dress for the job you want, not the job you have. You have got to be on people’s radar with what you are wearing and you have to look the part. We are seeing more and more people buying into that and taking care of their image and what they are putting out there to their audience.
It has a lot to do with pop culture. “Mad Men” has a lot to do with that and people like Adam Levine have been great for the younger generation. They are like, “You know what, I can rock a suit and wear it well.” It doesn’t have to be jeans and a T-shirt for young men, we can do better.
Has technology changed suits? Where do men keep their smartphones? Typically, added pockets for things like electronics you will see more in sport coats. When a guy is wearing a suit, we are hoping, they aren’t filling their pockets with stuff. We are really more worried about the look for the garment. When we need to wear a suit, that needs to be the image we are conveying. We see pockets in sport coats, but that’s typically a lot more for travel or when moving around a lot.
Is the short suit coming to Springfield? We, as staff, push the envelope. I wear a lot of shorts with navy blazers and wingtips with no socks, but to see that on the businessmen of Springfield on a regular basis, probably not. There are no C-level guys in Springfield who are going to be wearing short suits to work.
It takes about 18-24 months for trends to come to Springfield. If we see it in Europe in fall 2012, we probably see it here by spring 2014.
In Europe right now, pleats are huge again in trousers. Pleats are going to make their way back here eventually. I think it’s great. We still sell a lot of pleated pants, regardless.
We are big believers in being comfortable in what you are wearing. If you like pleated pants, own it.
A lot of executives wear crazy socks these days. Is that a growing trend? We have been on conversational socks for probably six years now. We really don’t sell a pair of black socks or a pair of brown socks. Women are really lucky and have great opportunities to accessorize with jewelry, purses, scarves and really amazing things that bring color. Us guys don’t have a lot of opportunity. We have got to wear a great dark suit, we have to wear a shirt, we have to wear a tie, but there are rare opportunities to really have fun and have personality. With all of our guys, it’s a great ice breaker when you are in business. You cross your legs and catch a bit of color. It’s an easy ice breaker.
I have 17-year-old clients who are into it and 70-year-old clients who are into it. We carry some great business socks, but these are unique socks. It’s easy, it’s fun and it’s a great way to give life to an old piece. Take a great navy suit you have had and loved, put a new tie and a new rockin’ pair of socks with it, and it feels new and looks new.
How do you compete with the national brands in town? We carry about 80 to 100 brands storewide. We are lucky to have the space to do that. We have been in this center since 1991. We opened with the mall in July 1970. Before that, we were in the Glenn Isle Shopping Center.
It’s important for everybody in the city who derives their salary or who provides for their family from this city, to try and keep those dollars local. We feel like we are the ones supporting this city. We are the ones makes donations. By we, I mean local small businesses. We see a lot of C-level guys who go to national chains. We offer the same branding at similar pricing. Keeping those dollars local is what makes this city work. If we could even get 5 percent of those dollars to stay local, it would be a game changer for the whole city.
How has suit style changed over the years? We have seen, in the past two or three years, what we call a cleaning up of everything. Things have gotten trimmer, shorter and everything is tighter. Ten years ago, everything was very loose, baggy and a little more cumbersome. Things have cleaned up.
A suit can be an expensive item. How did business fare during the recession? Our C-level gentlemen continued to buy, but we did see a drop in other clients who might come in and see us once a year or once every six months. Those sales diminished, but our high net worth clients continued to spend.
In terms of marketing, instead of spending the dollar to try and find new clients, we used those dollars to try and keep the customers we already had. Now, we are back trying to expand. We were profitable last year.
Town & County is known for men’s suits, but you also sell women’s clothes. Do you serve many female executives? It represents about 35 percent of what we do. We do everything from C-level ladies in town, attorneys, physicians, all the way down to stay-at-home moms. We still see a lot of women in suits, but we do a lot of dress/jacket combos. Suiting is still important, it’s still an important look for ladies.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
