FROM OUR NOVEMBER ISSUE: MILESTONES – 50 YEARS! POCKETS MENSWEAR, DALLAS, TEXAS

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Founded 1974 by David Smith, now run by Andy Weil and Doug Duckworth, 10 employees, 2 locations

Mission statement: We work at the same things many independent boutiques do to distinguish ourselves. We strive to achieve growth by seeking the best products, offering best-in-class service, and developing strong and enduring relationships with our clients.

Best-selling items/brands: Our mix is half clothing, half sportswear. We anticipate another strong year in knitwear and outerwear. Both these classifications have been growing and we believe it will continue. Your online strategy: We currently do not sell online.

How to do more business with less walk-in traffic? This can be challenging. One key is building great relationships with our clients, both in and out of the store. This leads to introductions and referrals. In addition, integration into the community is key. We work hard to be philanthropically active. Not only does this help some great causes, but it puts our name out there and builds community.

Best/worst part of your job? It sounds very cliché, but the best part of the job is the interaction and relationships developed with customers. The worst part is that men’s retail is not getting any easier. There’s new competition daily with direct selling, online merchants, DTCs. It seems most of our vendors now want to be vertically integrated. Additionally, expenses are quickly escalating. Employee costs are much higher than a few years ago. Rent expense has grown quite a bit. I attribute some of this to the same vertically integrated vendors. There are more of them than ever and they’re willing and able to pay more in rent because their expense structure and cost of goods are lower. Andrew Carnegie talked about the cyclical nature of profits and prices, but he knew the impor- tance of controlling costs.

Biggest mistake you’ve made and what you learned? Sadly, I make
mistakes all too often. But from them, I’ve learned to be solution-driven and to consider mistakes as learning opportunities.

How’s business now? How are you projecting 2025? What are you changing? Touch wood, our business is currently solid. We’ll enter 2025 cautiously optimistic with the intention to watch inventory and expenses closely and take our gambles when we feel right about them. As for changes, we hope to continue to grow our custom and made-to-order products. What are your top vendor partners doing right that you wish others would do? Be a true partner with your retailers. Vendor partnerships are critical to specialty retail. It requires give and take on both sides. When both sides are willing, both are rewarded with growth and profits. Your thoughts on your vendors selling direct to consumers? Do not love it, but it’s a reality. And what it does is force us to be sharper merchants. We have to work everyday to be better and remind the consumer why they should shop with us.

Greatest challenges you now face? There are two, both employee-related. It’s become increasingly challenging to find salespeople with the right work ethic willing to put in the effort to succeed without expecting the reward to precede the work. The second involves our tailor shop: tailors are a scarce commodity, especially truly talented ones.

How are you getting young guys into the store? Dallas is a growing city. For us, it’s important to attract customers of the right psychographic. If they’re young and like what we do in the shop, it is a win-win.

Your secret to having reached this milestone anniversary? This milestone is the result of the exceptional work of David Smith and Doug Duckworth. With their exceptional taste level and innate ability to connect with people, they built an institution in Dallas.