Give your local merchant a break!

[Marty M.]

I know that I'm going to ruffel a few feathers with this post. :rage: My goal is to not offend but to educate. I see a lot of posts here about how cheap you can buy custom shirts or custom suits over the internet. Someone mentioned that they bought custom shirts for $39.00. Really? What kind of quality custom shirt can you buy for $39.00? I wounder about their factory and their employee compensation program. To make a fine men's custom shirt you have to start with good fabric. You'll need at least two and a half yards of fabric to make a shirt. I have more then $39.00 worth of fabric into makeing a shirt (and thats my cost, not retail). As a owner of a custom store I was sucked into trying an off shore tailor for my custom shirt program. I did this because I thought I could get better margins then if I had our custom shirts made here in the states. Boy, did I learn my lesson. I lost a lot of money and upset some of my clients. Nothing was consistent, including quality, shipping, packageing, priceing and overall customer service. We do make wouderful products here in the States. And, I can control my level of customer service because they are made and shipped from the States. Even though I make less margins then if I had them made abroad.
The other thing that I have an issue with is "What about giving the local guy a chance?" I know that not every local guy is a good retailor. But most do try hard. They have their backs against the wall. Heck, just being a small business owner is hard enough (as some of you know). Most small independent store owner knows that he's got competition from the big box stores, the chain stores, catalogs and of course the internet. He can't compete with their expansive inventory or their advertising programs. He knows (or will know) how important the custom option is or will be. It's a different era to do business in. We retailors can't stock the amount of inventory that are customers would like to see. We wish we could. But, it's to expensive. But what we should stock in abundence is personality and cutomer service. Every store should be the bar on Cheers. We should have a relationship with all of our customers on a first name basis. We should be a haven for your sartoial needs. I'm not afraid of the "Super Stores" or the "Chains". They can't touch our service and our domesticly made product.
I'm not trying to kick the overseas custom makers or the big box retailors. But if you're a Fedora Lounge viewer, that tells me that you value your sense of style. So if you want the cheap stuff, go for it. But please check out the local guy/gal. They might help make life a little easier in your search for admission to the style heaven.

Thank You,
Marty

 

[shindeco]

Marty,

Thank you for a very thoughtful and thought-provoking post! You lay out the retailers' side of the issue very clearly. I use a local tailor because I find it more convenient but I must admit, I never thought of it from his point of view. I can assure you that I will continue to give him my business. Thanks for the prod!

Murray

 

[Marty M.]

Thanks.

Marty,

Thank you for a very thoughtful and thought-provoking post! You lay out the retailers side of the issue very clearly. I use a local tailor because I find it more convenient but I must admit, I never thought of it from his point of view. I can assure you that I will continue to give him my business. Thanks for the prod!

Murray

Thanks Murray. It's guy's like you that make my job fun.

Marty

 

[Mycroft]

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know you all in the custum clothing buissness were having competion or alot of it, since you are established, know, and in my area expensive. But, good luck, you are preserving art: Costumer Service and true custum clothing.

 

[Marty M.]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know you all in the custum clothing buissness were having competion or alot of it, since you are established, know, and in my area expensive. But, good luck, you are preserving art: Costumer Service and true custum clothing.

Thanks Mycroft.

Marty

 

[Senator Jack]

I had made inquiries at more than a few tailors here in NY, and I kept getting the same answer of 5 - 6 weeks for delivery. Thus, I knew they were outsourcing to Asia. It kind of bothered me that I was paying someone $60 to $70 just make a call and relay my measurements, so I figured I might as well just do it myself.

Of all the places I had gone into, there were only two that actually tailored on the premises. That was Luigi's and Hong Kong Jack. I did buy two customs from Luigi's and the quality is great. If I'm not happy with the shirt I'm to receive from mytailor.com, I'll probably go back and order a few more. Hong Kong Jack wanted me to order a minimum of five, and I might have done that had he had the material I wanted. It's a small place, and I felt like I was being offered whatever material he had in stock that week.

It really is harder to get a bargain in NY more than anywhere else. Rent is just sky high these days and no matter what you buy, a large part of the retailer's take is going to developers like Trump. If I buy something, I want to spend the money on quality and workmanship, and not rent.

Sad to say, but I don't think their will be any on-premises suit/shirt makers in NY within 10 years. That's not through lack of local support, but because the developers will make it impossible for the shops to offer goods at reasonable prices.

As a final note, see my thread "My Final word on BB shirts" regarding the quality of the shirts I bought from them.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[jake_fink]

Marty M,

Unfortunately the "bargain" is more important than the quality of goods or services to most people. That's how Walmart succeeds and why people eat at McDonalds (mistaking what they're eating for food, and where they're eating for a restaurant). I have a friend who is a chef and owns his own restaurant and another friend who is a rennovator and they say EXACTLY the same thing you're saying, but in their context.

I'd like to go for quality every time, but sometimes the bargain is so seductive... Every picture you've posted speaks to the quality of your work, and I hope that will continue to set you apart enough that you can stave off the off-shore competition... beacuse I don's see it going away anytime soon.

Good post, but it needs pictures :cheers1:

 

[Marty M.]

Senator Jack,
I saw your post about Brooks Bros. They're the Grandfather of all of men's stores. However, they've been sold a few times so I don't think that consistentsy has been their strong suit. Our custom shirts that we have made are out of New Jersey. Believe it or not, they take longer to make then our suits. We're typically 4 weeks for clothing and 5 weeks for shirts. Four to Six weeks are standard for shirts made here in the States. Some can make them a little quicker. And some I've seen some take up to ten weeks. As far as will they be around in ten years. Maybe not in expensive towers like Trumps. But, the custom business is growing rapidly again. So they'll be around somewhere. Good hearing from you.

Marty