Menswear Style Podcast
The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Menswear Style Podcast
Tony Rodgers of Triads & Sam Foulkes of Yards Store
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This week we speak to some of the biggest names within the menswear retail industry. In particular we look at the Independents that are battling the current tough economic climate. We speak to Tony Rodgers, Founder and owner of Triads. Ian over at Pritchard's lends his expertise on high street survival from a store with over 170 years of retail heritage, and finally Sam Foulkes at Yards Store gives us an inside track on what it takes to open a flagship store.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Menswear Style Podcast with me, your host, Pete Brooker. And on this week's episode, we're going to be speaking to some of the founders of the UK's biggest independent menswear stores. We're going to be asking them what the current climate is for independent retailers, what are the daily challenges, and what effects have Black Friday and Brexit had on sales. I'm joined in the studio by Major Dutch, who will be offering some advice on surviving in tough climates. How are you doing today, Major? That's good to you too, Major. Great handshake.
SPEAKER_01What is this fucking tie versus?
SPEAKER_08Major, tell me, you and your team are incredibly independent, is that correct?
SPEAKER_01You know that.
SPEAKER_08Well hold that thought, Major, because someone else who is flying the flag for independence is Tony Rogers. He's the owner of Triads, an independent menswear store in Middlesbrough, one of the biggest menswear independents in the country. We talk about the effects of Brexit, the effects football has had on the trade, and he talks about the controversial strict no-clothes policy at the Triads Christmas party.
SPEAKER_03Well I'm honest with you, last year was a monster. People went hysterical last year, but we, you know, you have to go with it.
SPEAKER_08That interview coming up shortly. So, Major, what do you think of the brands that Tony has handpicked for Triads? If you head over to Triads.co.uk, you can see Carhartt, Sunspell, Paulsmith, Norse Projects, Adidas. Oh Fort It! All of it! Or maybe you might be interested in the brands they have over at Pritchards.co.uk. They have the likes of Hugo Boss, Fred Perry, Oliver Spencer. No deal. No deal for you, Dutch, no dicey. Well, we'll be speaking to Ian, the owner of Pritchards. He tells me about the store that has enjoyed over 170 years of continuous trading. He also talks at length about the dilemma he faces being the richest man in the world.
SPEAKER_04Do I buy a new sick or do I go on holiday? Or encouraged, do I buy a new plasma TV or whatever, LCD TV, or do I buy a new overcoat?
SPEAKER_08So that interview coming up shortly. So Dutch, do you have any advice for the independents that are struggling to stay ahead in a tough economic climate? You're far behind and you're on your own. You're firing pearls today, Major. Lastly, we speak to Sam Foggs, a co-founder over at Yard Store up in Maxfield. He tells me about what it's like to build a platform for an e-commerce shop on a shoestring budget, how best to present those products online, and he also tells me about his methods of bribing local officials with the use of Photoshop and small farmland animals.uk. We have all the competitions running, as well as features, reviews, and style guides, etc. You can follow us on the social at menswear style. You can listen to all the episodes if you subscribe via iTunes, and please leave a five-star review if you like what you hear. That will help us climb the rankings and will assist us in becoming more discoverable to others. If you'd like to inquire about being featured in a future episode, then please contact me on Peter at menswearstyle.co.uk. Okay, that's all done. So you're ready for this one, Major? Go on. Here is that interview with Tony Rogers from Triads. Okay, so I'd like to introduce to the podcast now Tony Rogers, the manager of the Triads store up in Middlesbrough. How are you doing today, Tony? I'm very well, Pete. How are you? I'm fantastic. Look, thanks for taking the time out to speak to us today. Uh so tell us, if you will, just a little bit about Triads. Uh the start from where it began in 1988 to where it is today.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we started in 88, so worryingly, on a personal level. It's our 30th anniversary next year. Um with that in mind, um as an independent, a true independent, I might add, um we've sustained many, many uh economic upturns and and downturns since then. But on a personal level as well, I think we've managed to retain a bit of individuality, which I feel that in 2017 is getting more and more difficult. Um want to expand on that really. I think that you know what we started off doing back then um has become almost commonplace on the on the high street or the shopping centre. You know, you can go into any mainstream shop now and find brands that previously were only in kind of like niche markets.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So we've got to be constantly on the lookout for new products. Um especially where we are in the northeast of England for a number of factors such as economics, uh, location. Really, Middlesbrough consists of about two two roads, main roads, and that's about it. Um with that in mind, since since eighty eight and moving forward, we've been fortunate enough to have a strong website um which you know enables us to send out a variety of products all over the world to places like locations that you wouldn't normally associate with those countries, or I wouldn't at least. I mean I didn't realise everybody in South Korea desired a a duffel coat with a Union Jack Line in, but I found that out the other year.
SPEAKER_08A welcome surprise. Um Tony, how do you I'm interesting interested to know how you vet the brand, so how you not necessarily how you pick 'em, but the the kind of mold they have to fit to be on Triads.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's gotta it's gotta work for us and vice versa, really. You know, it it is basically it's like playing a roulette wheel, but you gauge that from a number of things. You gauge it to me, I always work on Ice instinct and and probably the pit of my stomach, you know, if I'm looking at products that I think I'll you know, that I personally like, I think to myself, well would the work within triads? Probably 99.9% of the time, yes. You know, we were one of the first uh stockers, if not the first, to stock this VIM. Um we've stocked Levi's vintage from for numerous years. Uh Stussy we've sold since the early nineties. You know, those brands have continued to work well in the bulb as we have. Um but we're always out there. Like I said, uh with being a true independent, we're we're fortunate enough to really have a blank canvas.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, so if we feel something, if we want to try something, then we will. I mean, on previous years and that we've done salvage iPhone covers and stuff from little little businesses in America. So there's nothing stopping us doing that, as well as you know, having brands that work well, such as Adidas. I mean, like I said, we we as an independent I keep forcing that issue as an as an independent, you know, we've been lucky enough to be, for instance, in 20 um 14, we were the first um shop to stop the Adidas Stockholm Trainer.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03You know, so and that created a bit of a buzz. Um but it's it's a it's trying to keep it interesting for the customer mainly. Um which hopefully will bring back you know, return custom and new ones.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Um I'm interested to know also, was there like a turning point within the company where you felt like this has got to move? I mean you've changed locations I think twice, haven't you? Constantly upgrading and improving the size. But is that down to the demand or was there some kind of trick or some turning point for you?
SPEAKER_03I think it's uh I think it's to do with the actual structural side of the the buildings and you know, I'm sure other retailers would agree, towns themselves migrate within each other. You know, one you know, one decade might be, you know, uh the high street might be the might be King, the next thing within the same town or city, it's slightly moved out. And that's all that's happened with us, but we own the we own the the actual two shops, so we're not in the you know, we're not in the lap of like landlords. So we we built the you know, the stores kind of reflect where we feel as though business is is is key for us. I mean, you know, we are to all intents, we are a destination. People people know where we are uh and we'll travel. I mean a lot of our customers, even I would say local customers, although we're on Teaside, travel from as far as Newcastle and as far up from Sheffield. So you know, that they're regular ones as well. So we kind of like with us with with that it kind of brings um familiarity uh and loyalty.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. And is there a loyalty-based scheme? Is there something that where people can come in and you incentivize them to come back to you?
SPEAKER_03No, we don't really. Um it's something that we could consider in the future, but you know, uh we are we are loyal to our loyal customers. Um it is something that we would look at, but at the end of the day, you know, we value our customers, but uh it's something that we would look at, but it it to that again it's it can be seen as a sales tool as well to encourage our you know, there's there's various things which can entice customers back. I think you know, the main reason the the main key is is basically product and ensuring that we've got the best product, you know, for this this shop because you know, all eyes aren't just on the two shops, they're on the World Wide Web.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I was gonna move on. Sorry, uh sorry to talk about I was gonna ask that question as well. How you can manage and maintain having all the brands on the site, keeping the prices as they are, but also do they mirror the shop prices and do you have to compete with other people and always fluctuate your prices online?
SPEAKER_03No, we do with recommended retail, um always um we we tend to have two sales a year, one in summer, one from Boxing Day onwards. Um we're not dictated to by any other business really. Um the internet reflects exactly what we have in the stores. Exactly. So a lot of in in actual fact that then uh increases footfall because people come in to look at the product and view the products that they've seen online. And like I said, that encourages people to travel quite a distance really because of the risk factor, you know, involved in sending it back, which again we've got a good policy with that. So you know, we try and make it easier for both. I mean the thing you've got to remember again about Teaside is a lot of this population, it's quite quite quite an industrial heritage we've got here. Um and as a result of that, uh with the decline in industry, a lot of people now work out of the country or work offshore or whatever. So although they they're out of the country for half the year, they want to come back and spend the money with us.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. You know that's good, that's good.
SPEAKER_03So there's that, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, it feels like you've got a very good community spirit um going on, not only just within the shop, but in the town.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, very, very much so. Yeah. Very proud of the area, definitely. You know, I think it's an unknown gem, really. I think um people who are familiar with our visitors think you know this is this is the pleasant surprise. Sometimes are portrayed badly in the media. I don't think that's the case at all. People who visited us will will testify to that.
SPEAKER_08Hey Tony, does it matter that um or has it had an effect that Middlesbrough got promoted last season?
SPEAKER_03Uh on a personal level.
SPEAKER_08Um my best friend's a Middlesbrough supporter, so I get to watch the games with him.
SPEAKER_03No, no, it's yeah, they're a fighting team. You should always you should always support your local team. That's my thoughts. Anyway, yeah, of course it has its increased football in the town. I mean, if I look out at Triads now, you know, I look to the left, there's a brand new Holiday In, a five-star hotel, you know, and that accommodates probably about 15,000 people more on a Saturday. However, the other side of that coin is people don't tend to shop, then go to the match.
SPEAKER_07Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03So you will get, you know, clothing. Although, you know, it's kind of like as was. But having said that, a lot more people are browsing the products who will then come back later to buy. But yeah, we haven't we have we have seen an increase in in football and sales as a result of the football. Definitely. I guess it's uh buzz about the place.
SPEAKER_08Good. I guess it's a bit of a mixed fortune then, because you have people that will be away from three o'clock Saturday, well, two o'clock Saturday to go to the game, Saturday being your biggest day. I know um there's a shop you might have heard of it, weekend defender down in London. I think they do like uh you you bring in like a s a ticket stub for the game that you're going to that day, and then they offer you a discount, which I thought was uh a genius idea, and then they pair it up with that. So it's there's plenty of stuff that works around the the football community as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, but then I suppose in London you've got all those teams who just got us.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Without being small small town minded, you know, that's that's that's the top and bottom of it. However, a lot of people come early doors, so we tend to get an increase in people on match days, early doors. Uh get people who come in after the match as well.
SPEAKER_08So all works out. Uh well I just just on that note, um, I should tell you that I support Liverpool. Um we're gonna be playing you guys on the last day of the si on the last game of the season. My uh friend highlighted this because he said, Well, there's a chance that you could relegate us, and there's also another chance that you could knock us out of the top four or a possible uh title shop. Anyway, that by the by it's gonna be a it's gonna be a crunch game. Um It is, yeah. For us. I digress.
SPEAKER_03Tony You'll be going one way and we might be going the other, so that's all I'm worried about. Well uh I'd rather us stick together because I've got friends in Liverpool. I was there I was there on on Sunday and Monday and I love it. People are great, so I wish them well.
SPEAKER_08Oh that's sweet. Yeah, it's a great city. I haven't been back for a while, but I did study up there, so it kind of gets ingrained, you know. If it's much easier to support Liverpool when you're in Liverpool, you it gets you all sorts out of all sorts of work.
SPEAKER_03It's much easier to support Liverpool if you like trophies as well.
SPEAKER_02I'm only joking.
SPEAKER_08I can't be called a fair weather supporter because they haven't done anything in the last two days.
SPEAKER_02Me neither, I'm all here. Um I'm only joking.
SPEAKER_08That's alright. Uh well, uh it's gone on to a football tangent. I should start wearing football poker. Yeah, yeah. Um something wrong with that. Tony, I was also interested about Black Friday because I used to working in an independent store myself, and I know what it's like gearing up to Black Friday, and the day itself is just, you know, you may as well just get in at the crack of fuck and you're working for the next 12 hours, 16 hours, pumping all the stock out. What was it? What's it like for you in the store uh on Black Friday and online?
SPEAKER_03Uh Black Friday, I think for I'm honest with you, last year was a monster, and I think it it's a monster that's here to stay. However, I think really that it from this year it started to pan out a bit more. People went hysterical last year. It seemed to pan out a bit more this year. We were extremely busy um in the stores and especially online. Um so again, getting back to the first point I made about sales, it isn't actually true. I said now it's gonna be like three sales a year now, because you would really include that in it now. But we you know, you have to go with it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So you've got to be prepared for that. You've got to be prepared for your staffing, for your products, that you see you your shops well prepped. Um but to be honest with you, it's a good chance to you know, for people to come in and see things and and get a bargain and puts money in hotel, so everyone's happy.
SPEAKER_08Do you think it flatlines a little bit or there's a dip just before Black Friday though, because people anticipated sales.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it does, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, um this year we didn't actually we didn't do late opening in Middlesbrough. Um basically because we didn't feel that the there was the demand. Obviously, now things have changed with the World Wide Web. Uh but having said that, it people people had come in and shopped and you know, shopped themselves to death, really. Um so we found as though within the working hours that were open, 9 30, 5 30, that we'd achieved everything and people are aware that we, you know, we're just in regular regular opening hours. I mean, we are a seven-day business, so yeah.
SPEAKER_08Um you know, and obviously And the the site looks great by the way. If people want to head over, thankfully not local to Middlesbrough, it's triads.co.uk. Um you've got some great brands on there, mate. I've I personally love uh the Norse projects is one of my favourites, and then there's Lacosta.
SPEAKER_03Brilliant, yeah, it's absolutely spot on. You get what you pay for in Norse, it's brilliant, it's understated, it's quality is absolutely bang on. I love it.
SPEAKER_08Have you got your eyes on any other brands that you want in or to add to the list?
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, always. Yeah, yeah. We're always looking at you know, we're always looking at brands, but getting back to the earlier points, there've got to be brands that fit Triads as well. You know, so there's a few con few feelers being put out about certain things, you know, just basically to work within the Triads ethos of like what we've built up and what people expect of us as well.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because uh you need to be exciting times, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Tony Rogers there from Triads, and now a word from our sponsor.
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SPEAKER_08You get the idea. Okay, so we're going to move on to our second interview of the day. Now we're going to speak to Ian from Pritchards. He's the owner of the store that's been trading for over 170 years. Enjoy this one. So I'd like to welcome to the podcast. Ian, who's the manager of Pritchards. Uh Pritchards, I should say. Pritchards, yeah. Um, how are you doing today, Ian?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, very well, thank you.
SPEAKER_08Excellent. Um, Ian, could you just tell us a little bit about Pritchards, please? Uh for the uninitiated, you guys have been going since 1836, but you've only recently just moved online, is that correct?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, well, I think we went live back in 2009. Oh, okay. Um with Visual Soft. Uh seen sort of ups and downs, really. It's it's quite a competitive market, as lots of things are, but there's certainly uh a shift towards online now. Um, and it's also a good catalogue for my brokers and mortar shopper. So they um you know they can do their research and know exactly what they want before they even step out the front door. So it's very, you know, it's a very good tool in that respect as well.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And it gives us a bit of presence, you know, hopefully, um, well, we're trying to grow that around the globe.
SPEAKER_08Sure.
SPEAKER_04Um yeah.
SPEAKER_08And do you have anything uh like an online service that complements a store? Do you have maybe some uh like iPads where people can go through the profiles of the brands, etc.
SPEAKER_04We don't not install, no. I mean that's something that we've sort of we've um denard with really, but none of it, we can't there's never been a joint decision on on doing it, so it's it's one of those that we haven't sort of gone down that route. I don't think we will, to be honest.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Uh and what is the footfall like down in there? I mean, you're you're in Hereford, right? So you're not enjoying it.
SPEAKER_04We are what I call a destination store because we are we're slightly off the beaten track of where off your sort of Marks and Spencer's and boots, etc., are um so we're on sort of not the outskirts by any means, but we're probably a five-minute walk from out of uh the high town sort of city centre. But we're uh we've noticed our footfall has dropped, but our our sales have increased. So we're getting less guys or ladies through the door, but they they're you know they're spending more money uh for purchase um spending more, you know, buying more things. So although footfall's down, um, you know, sales are up.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Um what brands I noticed on the website you've got some I'd well, I'd probably say the upper class, the upper tiers of brands like the Portsmouth and the Hughebus. So um that's very much the market and the niche you're aiming at, yeah?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, um we find um For our location, Bellstaff works very well for us. Oliver Sweeney shoes, but we're also finding niche brands that were more sort of olivar brown, uh sunspell, sort of unbranded, uh sunspell made in England. People are buying into that a lot. Um, so it's not always logo driven as it I think it used to be, more so.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um, so yeah, I think people just buy into a quality product, and obviously uh it's got to be a fit and uh you know, with a sort of progressive look to it as well. Yeah, Fred Perry and also uh we're finding people are buying into heritage brands, um, Across Scooter being another one. I think they're about 20 years younger than us. So we've got a bit of an affiliation there that we've stopped them many, many, many years ago, just got back on board with them, that seems to be performing quite well. Um, and appeals to all ages, as does Fred Perry, really, from old mods in the 60s who used to wear it to their grandsons now, you know. So it's it works across the board for us.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, well, it's great to have it like a generational thing, especially with brands. Yeah. I I I mentioned earlier in the podcast that I used to manage an independent retail store just outside of Cambridge. Uh, and my general feel was that guys, dudes in particular, are just very loyal to certain brands.
SPEAKER_04So I don't know if it's the same with women, but yeah, I would say that that certainly hasn't moved at all or changed in any way. We find that we've got certain areas of the shop which guys don't go in because the brand, like for instance, Fred Perry's at the front of our store, those guys or by Fred, they won't look at anything else because they are very like say loyal to a brand. They know it, they understand it, and it does what they want it to do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Guys are just so simple.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, they don't tend to shift off it. They love that laurel wreath and and they're happy to know you know to wear it.
SPEAKER_08So, what are your challenges then day-to-day and in terms of running the store and marrying it with the online side?
SPEAKER_04Uh, it's obviously growth on both sizes would be wonderful. Um, it's just making sure that they support each other and that uh the store, because we it's trying to reflect what we do in the store online. So it's our website is very in tune with what we do in store from customer service to um you know how it's looked, presented, merchandised, so people get a feel for how the shop is, you know, online. Yeah, so it's that's what we try to do is we're trying to marry them together and make sure that we're you know singing off one hymn sheet, if you like.
SPEAKER_08And I'm gonna throw the elephant in the room in. Brexit. Brexit. How did uh how do you think Brexit had an affair?
SPEAKER_04Do you know what? I I kind of think if a guy needs a pair of trousers because he's going to a function or he needs a new jacket or whatever, is the fact that we're not part of the European Union gonna make a difference on that? For me personally, if I was going to a wedding, I would need to buy a suit whether we're in the EU or whether we're out of it. Yeah. So I I don't I don't really feel that um we've seen a huge drop in sales because of Brexit, no.
SPEAKER_08Well that's interesting. I mean I guess it's not really.
SPEAKER_04But as of yet, I can't I wouldn't see it as had any sort of massive detriment to us, really.
SPEAKER_08Well that's good. Uh I mean I guess you're not buying specially imported Italian fabrics that are rising the tariffs or anything like that. It's still brand.
SPEAKER_04Apparently, uh certain things are we do deal with I guess Italian silks and ties and things like that, which I'm sure there will be a price hike because of the pound to to euro. But you know, it I I don't think we're gonna stop selling these things because they've gone up, you know, it's not a huge amount. So if you need that tie to wherever that's it, you'll buy it if you like it, you know. It's down to I think more the product being right, how it's shown, what it's with. Um so it comes down to our or my buying, should I say. But I get it right.
SPEAKER_08And how do you vet the brand personally?
SPEAKER_04What from uh whether we whether we work with them or not, yeah, whether you get them in. Um obviously uh it comes down product initially. Uh we need a service, so is that because that service is passed on down the line to my end user or customer. So if, for instance, if I use Paul Smith as an example, if I have a guy on a Saturday who wants a Paul Smith suit and I haven't got the size, but I can ring them on Monday. Hopefully, they have the size. I have it here by Tuesday or Wednesday, so then that's passed on down the line. Uh my customer gets a good service because I've been given a good service.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04So that's you know a big part of it for me. Um how the brand's represented, how it looks, quality, fit, um awareness on the street, I guess. Of you know, we find that some some brands, lesser known brands, we've struggled with in the past for not being so well known or marketed as well, if you like. Like, you know, for instance, everybody who walked through the door would know a Fugo boss, so they immediately they trust it and they're they're happy to wear it, you know.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I guess it's that familiarity thing again, being a dude, isn't it?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. And I think guys are very much, you know, if if something's familiar to them, they're they're content with it, you know, they're happy. But you saying that you get the odd guy who is, you know, doesn't want to be the same as everybody else, and he wants to push the boundaries a bit, which you know, they're the interesting ones for us as well.
SPEAKER_08Um Ian, I was going to ask do you have any competition like direct in Hereford? I mean, uh you're not in London. You said you're not in London, so you don't have anything next door to you, but uh, do you have anything else down the high second?
SPEAKER_04We've got a few. We've got um uh Calandras who uh about a five-minute walk from us, they do not be interrogatory, so I wouldn't say slightly lesser brands, but different um Armani Jeans, Lacoste, Henry Lloyd, that kind of thing, uh Lylan Scott, which is it's slightly appealing to a slightly younger market, I would guess, than us.
SPEAKER_07Right.
SPEAKER_04Um, and then we've we've got Flannels who have just come to Hereford, who again are doing uh maybe a more younger, also ladies and children by all accounts, and they're doing Stone Island, that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_08And do you think it's a healthy competition having other people in the middle?
SPEAKER_04I do, yeah, I I would say definitely, because I think for me it's got more chance of keeping that Hereford or whatever in inside the city limits, bring more people in, you know, on the sort of outskirts of Hereford from sort of Monmouth and places like that, Ludlow from the north, uh, which they may have gone to say Shrewsbury North or Cardiff West or whatever. There's a good chance now that they're they're happy to stay in Hereford because the offering's a lot better.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Um just to touch on it, I like I said, I worked in a sh shop some time ago. Um, and we found we were just like an alien mothership that landed in a farmer's field. There was nothing around like us in the middle of the sticks, out in the middle of bumblefuck, basically. And we f we had like a factory shop that was down the road that was obviously selling you know that kind of gene for that kind of person, shall we say? Um which which is perfectly good. I think the only competition or slight mindset we had was that people would then start to downgrade their own wardrobe or you know, just kind of reduce it thinking, well, I don't have to or I can't afford the luxury side anymore. And that really was our only competition.
SPEAKER_04Um I think um I've known that um you might laugh at this, and you've probably experienced it come from Rita, but I've had um a competitor in Thomas Cook from Do I Buy a New Sit or Do I Go on Holiday, or in Curry's Do I Buy a New Plasma TV or whatever, LCD TV, or do I buy a new overcoat? So it's not just direct clothing competition, it's other things, you know. And it's but we all know we don't rest on our laurels by any means here, but we always we're very, very particular to make sure that we get our buying right. Uh, we know who our customer is, uh and we're buying with them in mind, and we're very lucky because we've been going 180 years, uh, that we've got a a good name, we're a brand in ourselves, and we're we've got a very loyal following, so they they trust in us because I like to say we do we do our homework, we do a lot of you know research into making sure that what we've got is right for our store and our customer.
SPEAKER_08Ian from Pritchard's there, that's Pritchards.co.uk if you want to check the brands out. I'll tell you what, my hand. What's the matter? Well, let's just say you've got a vice-like grip, Dutch.
SPEAKER_01The CIA got you pushing too many pencils.
SPEAKER_08Huh? Well, I don't know how to tell you this, Dutch, but I don't work for the CIA anymore. I never did. You used to be somebody I could trust. But you're gonna stay and listen to the Sam Folkes interview, right? Go on. Excellent. Here's that interview with Sam Folkes, co-founder of Yard Store. I'd like to introduce Sam Folkes to the podcast. He's a co-owner of Yard Store, which is a menswear independent retailer up in Maclesfield, Cheshire. How are you doing today, Sam?
SPEAKER_05I'm good, thank you.
SPEAKER_08Excellent. Okay, Sam, uh, could you just tell us a little bit about Yard Store, please, and how you got involved, how it all began?
SPEAKER_05It's a premium menswear store. Um, we've been going since 2015. We started online first, um, that was going well, and then we was in a position to open our first store. So we we went for it.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Uh so you were grad you graduated and you were studying a merchandising buying profession.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, in uh Manchester met and we graduated last year.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. And was it just a lateral move, you know, picking up that information and that knowledge?
SPEAKER_05It was uh it was always our plan, really. We started, I met Kyle the co-owner, met him in our first year, and we we just planned to open our first store. This is what we always wanted to do. So we started in the beginning of second year, we started to get the wheels turning, we introduced ourselves to brands, went to trade shows, built up communication, and then once we graduated, we thought we'll go for it. Okay.
SPEAKER_08And then hopefully um, can I ask Sam probably a personal question? How did you get the finance for this coming straight from education into what into the workplace to buy on and inherit these brands?
SPEAKER_05We worked full-time jobs, we worked part-time during university, and then once we graduated, we both worked in retail for a bit. So we just was just put putting our money, saving our money and putting it into that to buy the stock.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Um, and why did you choose to go bricks and mortar as well to get an outlet rather than just purely online?
SPEAKER_05It was with online we found that it's it's harder to protra the cot uh the quality of the brands, whereas in store people can touch the fabrics, they can try it on physically, they can get a better better impression of what they're like and what they're soup and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, okay. Uh what about the footfall? Because I'm interested. Is it quite a busy area, quite an affluent area up in um Macclesfield?
SPEAKER_05It's a smallest town, but the footfall is good. We do get a lot of people in during the day, and we get a lot of visitors either come in just dropping up uh to the Pete district or from Stoke, or even if they're passing from Manchester, they do come in.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Um and so does it actually um translate from the shop to the online store? I mean, uh I thought the website was great by the way, and if people want to jump on, it's yardstore.com, so yards then store.com. Um check out the brands there, you've got the likes of Edwin, um, Stylogan, so you've got some really good brands on there, but I I couldn't actually see any pictures of the store as such.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, um that's a work in progress again with the site. We're looking to get the images of the site of the shop, sorry, onto the website and directions as well. But they're all on on our social medias and Google as well.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, sure. Um so when it came to putting the pictures on the website, did you look to other websites to see how they were presenting their catalogues?
SPEAKER_05We're trying to show off the product really rather than any other little details like the closest images. We just try to pick the per um the products in a perfect light, really, just to give the consumer and our customer the best possible view of the product. Like we're still looking to improve on getting the quality of the images because some of them are a bit blurry, but that's and there's nothing we can do about that at the moment in time.
SPEAKER_08And do you have to get uh the brands to send you the images or do you t do you have your own studio?
SPEAKER_05How does it um we do it we yeah, we do it all in the in the shop in the stock room. Um got a little we've got a little wall. Um and then we're just yeah, we'll just do it there. We've got a photographer who's local and he's he's been good. And yeah, it's um it's like it's hard work, but it's just easy. It's easy to transfer it from hanger to hanger rather than doing flat lays and renting out a studio and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_08Well, I know from working in a independent myself over the last couple of years that you learn to do everything yourself. You learn to become a bit of an all-rounder in the end. So you'd be the guy on the shop floor, but also you'd be the guy writing the blogs, you'd then be the photographer taking the pictures of everything. So um you have to be you have to kind of have this game where you'll just go, Well, look, it's not gonna be the best, it's not gonna be like the most professional in the world, but it's gonna be good enough for now until we get um a couple of years down the line and then we can start building the empire. Um but like as I said, I think the I think the site's really cool. So, what sort of brands are on your horizon?
SPEAKER_05What what you're looking to get in uh Portuguese flannel, um we've got them coming in spring summer, we've got Lecox Bortif, and we've got film or skincare.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay. Um sorry. No, I was gonna say you're looking to you've got a couple of grooming products on there as well, so you're looking to go you know throughout the range basically, you get the whole lot. Cool. Cool. Uh curious though, what what are your day-to-day challenges like then in a shop like this? Uh well in the shop and on the online, what are you dealing with? What are the headaches?
SPEAKER_05Oh, at the minute, because we are a new store, it's hard to keep the shop looking full as well as online, because if we get a sale online, the stock is the same uh stock as in store. So once it goes online, it goes in store and vice versa. So it's hard to keep the balance in making the store look presentable and making sure there's enough stock levels in both parts. So that's pretty much the biggest headache at the moment.
SPEAKER_08Do you manually have to kick it offline? So if someone walks in and buys one of your Edwin jeans, do you then have to go onto the stock online and knock it off, or does the till system do that?
SPEAKER_05Um yeah, uh when it's bought online, it does it automatically, but once it but um once it's bought in the store, we have to do it ourselves.
SPEAKER_08Right, okay, yeah. Because I remember working, like I say, when I was working in the shop, we forked out for a uh a massive till system. It was quite pricey in the end, but we just thought it was the best way to manage the stock levels rather than um having to go back and forth and chase our own tails, as it were.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, definitely. But luckily we've got enough stock to have a good um good amount in the store, but it's still we can keep on top of it. Like it's not gonna like we're not gonna get snowed underneath it type of thing.
SPEAKER_08Have you ever had it yet? Where someone's gone to buy something in the shop. Oh no, I suppose it wouldn't work because it'd be the other way around if they bought it online.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we've had it a few times online.
SPEAKER_08And just you'd have it at that moment where someone's actually bought it online, but you've got to sell it in the shop and then Yeah, we were a few times, but we just had to apologize and and they've been fine with it really.
SPEAKER_05They know we're new, they know we're just starting out, so we're bound to make some mistakes.
SPEAKER_08That's alright. Cool. Well, um, cheers, Sam. Thanks for jumping on. Good luck with the shop. Uh and recommend everyone has a look at the independence. You know, we've got to keep these guys alive. Yeah. Uh keep keep the high street alive as well, you know. So it's um yardstore.com and on the Instagram your yards underscore store, I think. Is that right?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And on Twitter, we're just a yard store. Great.
SPEAKER_08Okay, brilliant. Uh, and yeah, check out the rest of the brand. So they're all really cool brands on there, like Phantom, uh, Sock and Trotter like a Stylogan, um, a really cool brand as well. They're um I've got one of their bags, uh, just like kind of roll-top bags. They're fantastic. They make these um bags out of these canvases that they put on boats. Uh they put this lacquer on it, so it's like the most waterproof and robust overnight bag that you're ever gonna have on your back.
SPEAKER_05And then ice owners as well.
SPEAKER_08Sam folks from Yard Store there. So that's it for another edition of the Menswear Style Podcast. I'd like to thank all my guests on the show this week. Uh Tony Rogers from Triads, Ian from Pritchards, Sam Folks from Yard Store. I'd like to thank Dutch for coming into the studio.
SPEAKER_01You son of a bitch!
SPEAKER_08I'd like to thank you, the listener, for joining us for subscribing in iTunes, leaving the comments, telling a friend we love it when you do all that, and also whilst you're in iTunes, make sure you download the Menswear Style app. That way you'll get all the notifications when we update the blogs, the features, the competitions, etc. It'll come straight to your phone so you won't miss a thing. I'll be back in a fortnight, so until then, take care
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