FROM OUR NOVEMBER ISSUE: MILESTONES-70 YEARS! EDWARD HAMRA, EDWARD’S MEN’S WEAR, LAWTON, OKLAHOMA

The entire MR team proudly presents our November 2024 issue. If you haven’t received a hard copy, please page through our digital version, and we’ll continue to post individual stories here on  MR-mag.com. If you haven’t been getting MR in print, be sure that you are on our mailing list for future issues by completing  this form.

“My parents (first generation, from Lebanon) opened the store in 1954. I started helping when I was 10; I credit them (and blame them) for everything I learned: my values (they taught me to consider my customers’ money as carefully as I would my own), my focus on customer service, my work ethic. The problem is that everyone in my family works well into their senior years: an aunt is 93 and works in a gift shop down the road; another aunt is still working at age 80. Do I really want to work that long?

“Our mix is a balance of tailored clothing, furnishings, sportswear, and shoes. Our clothing retails for $295-$495 on sport coats, $395-$595 on suits. Key clothing brands include the Peerless roster (Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Tallia, TailoRed), Renoir (incredible value; I’ve learned so much from Patrick) and H. Freeman. Shoes are mostly Johnston&Murphy and Florsheim; sportswear includes Tommy Bahama, Johnnie-O, Luciano Visconti, Patagonia and Duckhead. We do a formal-wear rental business that gets young guys into the store.

“The biggest mistake I’ve made (excluding my first three marriages; the fourth is a winner at 36 years!) is the two times we brought in women’s apparel: first from 1982 to ’88, then from 2006-2023. Our first attempt was women’s fashion from a men’s wear maker; the second was to compensate for losing Big&Tall sales to the internet. (It had been one-third of our volume!) That said, overall business these days is very strong: 2022 and ’23 were record-breaking years, and we’re beating those so far in 2024. “Our success secret: I know my niche price-wise, and I’m not brave enough to upgrade. Also, we got lucky: with Dillards no longer in town, we have virtually no competition!”—KAG