GARMANY REMAINS A SPECIAL SPECIALTY STORE

If one were to select the 10 most spectacular specialty stores in North America, there’s not a list that wouldn’t include Garmany. Founded in 1974, the store moved to Red Bank, New Jersey in 1989, and to its current location there in 2005. With 40,000 square-feet of fabulous fashion presented with impact and sold by 30 highly motivated, well-trained associates, it’s a store buzzing with positive energy.

Men’s is currently 65 percent of the business, with women’s catching up fast! Top brands include Isaia, Canali, Rag&Bone, Zegna, Cuccinelli, Robert Graham, Manolo Blahnik, Veronica Beard, Ferragamo, Etro and many more.

Founder Larry Garmany, who died unexpectedly last July, has been described by those who knew him as “a prince of a man.” His son Johnell is carrying on the legacy and finds it tough to discuss his dad without a few tears. What did he learn from his dad? “Just about everything I know. He had guts and chutzpah but always tempered with kindness. The business lessons he taught me over the years are also lessons in life. I never paid much attention at the time but now that he’s gone, I’m starting to appreciate the tremendous value of everything he believed in. I feel grateful for all the time I spent with him.”

Johnell has recently been joined at the store by his long-time friend Andrew Weisbrot, who left his managing director position at Brioni America’s (and prior to that he was the senior director of sales for Hugo Boss) to become Garmany’s director of sales and marketing. “We’d been great friends for a long time, we were both dealing with the loss of a parent, and Garmany is 10 minutes from my house,” says Weisbrot. “So driving home together from NYC one night last fall, it somehow all came together. We both aspire to do big things professionally and personally. We share a lot of the same core values. It just feels right.”
[metaslider id=111807] Among those core values are giving back to the community through numerous charitable organizations. “This will be a major focus for us in the months and years to come,” says Weisbrot. “To give back in the community where we were both raised is very meaningful to us, to our Garmany family and to our incredible customers.”

And while many stores are cutting back in light of today’s precarious economy, Johnell and Andrew are playing offense. Explains Weisbrot: “We attack every day with enthusiasm, energy and excitement. We’re investing in events, in social media campaigns, and in creating desire rather than need. Our goals are to work very closely with our vendors to develop strong business strategies, and to never be out of stock on key items. Our business is up double digits these last two months, so it seems that the formula is working.”

According to Johnell, future growth will come from made-to-measure, women’s, contemporary and online. “But most of all, we are trying to make our business fun,” he says. “If you truly enjoy doing what you do every day, success follows attitude.”