April 27, 2023 • 19 mins
Join us on this episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast as we sit down with Junaid Ansari, Co-Founder of Burrows & Hare. Discover the captivating journey of this family multi-brand business, which first took root in Oxford in 2015. Junaid shares the essence of their brand, where every item is meticulously designed and crafted for the discerning gentleman of today. With a commitment to timeless style and superior craftsmanship, Burrows & Hare embraces a philosophy of "buy less but buy better quality goods." By opting for skilled artisans and sustainable materials, they champion a higher standard of product that honors both the wearer and the environment. We delve into various topics, including the early reception of their newly opened Marlow store, the joys and challenges of working with family, innovative strategies to attract customers, the power of social media, and exciting plans for a skincare and shaving line. Tune in to gain valuable insights from a brand that epitomizes the fusion of heritage and modernity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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PB (00:11):
Hello welcome back to another episode of the menswear
style podcast. I'm your hostPete Brooker and today on the
show I am talking to Junaid andsorry he is the MD over a
Burroughs and hair and that's ha r e hair, burrows and hair,
men's lifestyle and grooming fora new generation of discerning
gentleman. Their vision forevery item is that it be
(00:32):
beautifully crafted, built tolast and live organically with
those who wear it and within itsenvironment. They're based down
in Oxford they've also justopened up a new store in Marlow
and I really did enjoy talkingto Junaid he's got a great
attitude when it comes to makingbricks and mortar work but he's
also not ignoring driving onlinebusiness, e commerce leveraging
(00:53):
social media and to talk allabout that and more here is
Junaid and sorry,
Unknown (00:57):
we're a small brand kind of started off in Oxford,
Menswear. We like to think ofourselves as quite timeless, to
have a timeless aesthetic withinour collection. And what we do,
we just focus on good product,you know, we're not looking for
things that are in one seasonout the next, we're just looking
for that kind of timeless,classic, well made product, that
(01:18):
people just would love to haveit
PB (01:20):
you know, and so you kind of a portfolio company, you're an
independent, you have yourmentioning of Mike, you're a
family run business, and you'vegot other brands, but you also
have your own name on the label.
So you also do your ownproducts, right? Yeah.
Unknown (01:32):
So we work quite hard on our own brand. Growing it
organically, you know, when whenthe time dictates, shall we say
because we're so busy. But yeah,we're, we started off as a multi
brand offering, we're still amulti brand offering as well. We
stopped kind of like mindedbrands, if you want to put it
that way. So brands who reallyjust specialise in what they do
unique pieces, good fabricationmade really well,
PB (01:57):
you know, and how do you vet the brands? I mean, you've how
many brands have you got on yourbooks?
Unknown (02:02):
Right? That's a bit of a difficult question, really, in
terms of the number of brands,I'd say we've got quite a few on
the books, at least 15 Maybe 20brands, but we're just picking
what we like from these brands,you know, their specialities.
They do great collections, ourvast collection some of these
guys but we just like to pickwhat's right for us and sits
(02:24):
well in our stores really,because predominantly, we're a
bricks and mortar retailer,that's how we've started when we
started our business. That's thebread and butter of the business
as opposed to online. Whichworks well for us. We we love
facing customers, you know,dealing with customers on a
daily basis hearing directlyfrom them, the interaction,
(02:44):
everything that comes withbricks and mortar retail, it's
all part of the fun. So havingsaid that, you know, multi brand
offering is good, but we focuson own brand as well. Just to
offer a little bit something alittle bit different.
PB (02:58):
So just dial it back for us a little bit Junaid Yeah, when
did you open the very firststore down there in Oxford,
Unknown (03:04):
very first store. This was opened in 2015. Just towards
the end of summer, to be fair,so it was sort of July August
time that we opened up in thisreally, really amazing little
independent area in the citycentre of Oxford, the cupboard
market, which was really nice tobe part of that kind of history
and heritage of such a greatplace. And it worked really well
(03:26):
for us.
PB (03:26):
And do you have like a core audience down there? Is it is it
students I mean, what sort ofpeople come into your store what
they're looking for?
Unknown (03:34):
It's quite funny actually. Starting off in
Oxford, people would alwaysassume you have a huge student
following but essentially, it'sa bit more of an aspirational
price point for a student withthat being said, you know, they
can start to buy into the store,but they probably wouldn't come
in and they're not the bulk ofthe customer. I think a lot of
(03:54):
the locals from Oxford Cityitself and the surrounding areas
have been a good base of ourcustomer profile. But you know,
with that being said, you know,we sell we serve the student
population pretty well. With ourproduct range is quite vast, you
know, it's not just clothing, wedo accessories, we do bags, you
know, we do skincare grooming.
So there's always something tobuy into, and stationary course
(04:16):
what students station
PB (04:20):
without. And you've just opened up a second shop now just
in Marlow. So how are you? Howold is that shop? And how's it
going?
Unknown (04:29):
This is coming up to six months here in Marlow. Five
to six months, I should say. Andthis is this is going well.
We've is going as expected. Sowe've come from humble
beginnings in the cupboardmarket with a small shop,
similar to the size of whatwe're in Marlow, you know and
the footfall is very similar toMarlo in that respect where it's
(04:51):
it's steady. It's nothing hugethat people aren't coming in the
masses. But we find that theright people are coming through
the doors, people who areinterested in Again, we've had a
great reaction so far. So yeah,I really look forward to the
rest of the year here.
PB (05:05):
As I mentioned off, Mike have ran an independent fashion
store in my time. And if peoplewere playing the drinking game
at home, they always have tohave a swig when I mentioned
that, because it does come up inevery other show. But the reason
why I mentioned is because wehad a lease on the building in
Cambridge, but it was inCambridge shear, so it was way
out in the sticks. So we justtreated the building like a
(05:26):
warehouse with a shop floor.
Basically, we knew we weren'tgoing to get a lot of footfall.
But on the flip side, we knewthat we could save money in the
company and just have a showcaseroom and basically drive it as
an E commerce site. Do you havethat kind of angle where you're
looking to mainly drive it as Ecommerce are you kind of
thinking this could be more ofan empire where you open up more
bricks and mortar.
Unknown (05:51):
Preferably, you know, in an ideal world, we'd like the
best of both. But our kind offoundation lies in bricks and
mortar retail, we're notignoring the E commerce side of
things and the online side ofthings. That's our shop to the
world, essentially, for bricksand mortar. That's where that's
our foundations. We like thatexperience. We like to decorate
(06:12):
the shops, you know, make themlook nice, give you that
experience, and that feel you'vewalked into somewhere special
unit backed by somethingspecial. I mean, with that being
said, we've picked up drapersawards as well, for best shops
that this was in 2019.
PB (06:28):
And who's doing the shop here? are you designing these?
Or are you getting other peopleand
Unknown (06:31):
everything that we do is in house? So yeah, like I
said, we're a family runbusiness. Our team has stuck
around with us from the verybeginning as well, we've had new
additions, and they're allgreat, they stick around for a
long time. But we all workreally hard. But when it comes
down to the design here thatwill
PB (06:46):
go in house and you say family, that you and your
brother that are kind of themain heads of the company.
Unknown (06:53):
We are yet but we're the second generation. So he's
been in the business. He's beenthere done that. semi retired,
we dragged him out of retirementfor a little bit of help. But
yeah, so that's where we kind ofget our inspiration from, you
know, so yeah, I always say tocustomers, as well, we're second
generation retailers, we reallylove the bricks and mortar. And
(07:17):
that's the way we're going tocontinue.
PB (07:18):
Yeah. Being brought out of retirement to help with your
son's clothing business isn't assexy as you normally hear it in
the movies where someone's beenbrought out of retirement for
one last assignment. He neverreally retired, he never did.
Unknown (07:33):
Yeah, he's always working, he's always busy, you
can never you can never keep himdown. As much as you tell him to
kind of rest and whatever. Youcan never keep him down. He
loves it. It's, it's a labour oflove. And that's kind of
trickled down to us. We lovewhat we do. We enjoy what we do.
And I think that kind of comesacross to the customers their
experience in store and ourproduct range. Ideas. You know,
(07:54):
we always asking customers,what, what are you looking for?
How can we improve? You know? Sowe really engage it was
PB (08:01):
your dad, was he a tailor?
He was a retailer, near theretail, okay, so he knows the
business.
Unknown (08:06):
He knows the business.
He knows the business. He was hestarted off in the 1980s when
times are good, you know, when,when there were very few kind of
high end, retailers, again,Oxford, and yet people coming
from all over before theinternet. So that was
interesting. The times weredifferent. They weren't as tough
for retailers as they are now.
(08:29):
You know, we have a lot ofhurdles now that they didn't
have back then. But that's allpart of the fun, you know?
PB (08:35):
And do you know you live with me I know of like I say
from running an independentstore. I lived above the fashion
shop, when for about threeyears. And because it wasn't
kitted out with the immediateease of being a home, we that
there was no shower, basically,there was no kitchen, I
basically slipped in the stockroom with all the mannequins and
(08:56):
the boxes. So I can I can seelike the unsexy side of the
business as it were, I imaginethere must be some
bootstrapping, when it's just asmall knit run business, you got
a family and stuff like that. Soperhaps talk to me about the
obstacles that you face and, andhow you kind of trying to
streamline the business and keepthe fat off.
Unknown (09:15):
Essentially, you must always have a good work ethic,
you have to be prepared to doeverything yourself, where you
kind of introduced me at thebeginning of the show was
everything like we have to doeverything we have to take the
bins out you have to serve thecustomers, you have to develop
products, you have to source youknow you have to merchandise you
have to look how you can growthe business, different
(09:35):
channels, etc. So you reallyhave to have a good work ethic,
you have to be ready to doeverything. But I think if you
have the thinking that, youknow, this is something that you
would love to do. There'snothing else that you'd rather
be doing. Then of course, you'regonna throw yourself into it.
And you really kind of you takeit on and there's something to
get your teeth into. Well, Iwouldn't say it's kind of
(09:56):
unsexy. There's a there's a fewthings that are There's no
really any hurdles, really, thatwill stop you from getting into
bricks and mortar retail, Ithink a lot of the time you can
hear things, you know, it's hardout on the high street, etc,
etc. Providing you're willing towork hard, I don't think there's
a many obstacles that are gonnastop you from that.
PB (10:17):
I mean, I treated it like working behind the bar, because
I've also lived and worked andlived in pubs before. And you
get to realise that it becomes away of life rather than a nine
to five, right? So what youdon't see when you come in and
buy a pint is that guy mighthave been up since two o'clock
in the morning, cleaning thelines, and he's there shutting
up after 11, you know, cleaningup after everyone's gone. You
(10:39):
know, nothing is like fits inbetween normal work hours. And I
imagine running a business likeyours. That applies as well.
Unknown (10:47):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. But at the same
time, you can add to the theatrefor the customers, you know,
that whole kind of action ofwhat's going on in store, I'll
give you an example. We'll haveswatches arriving in store. And
then you know, the best placeand time for us to get together
to make decisions on productsand future fabrics that we're
going to use across shirts,jackets, trousers, wherever they
are, you know, we'll haveswatches laid out all over the
(11:08):
table. And then people will comein and you know, there'll be
intrigued you know what's goingon here to be interested, you
know what you choosing that forall that's really nice, you're
going to be using it for nextwinter or next spring or
whatever. It just adds a bit oftheatre to the place, but at the
same time, there's things thatyou really need to get done. But
yeah, that's interesting,because
PB (11:26):
it's all on show, right? So when it arrives, it's not like
it goes to a what I presume itdoesn't go to a warehouse and
another HQ, and there's amillion of a heads all involved.
It's kind of happening there.
And then so you have to bethere. And that attracts
attention.
Unknown (11:38):
That's it. That's it.
And I think you'll find that ina lot of businesses and small
brands, you know, where they doeverything. There's always
something going on the theatrein store is it's always
exciting.
PB (11:50):
Outside of that, have you thought about putting any other
experiences in the shop, like,you know, introducing, like
coffee or any kind of yogaclasses, you know, those sorts
of things that can kind ofproduce a little bit extra to
the customer?
Unknown (12:03):
Well, yeah, that's, that's exactly to be fair. Yes,
is the short answer. And there'sthings that we've done in the
past, we've had events, youknow, we've had, in our talk
specifically about Oxford, forexample, we've we've worked with
local kind of coffee roasters,and they've come in and we've
had a nice little day or twoover the weekend, you know, with
the customers getting freecoffee in the store, it drags in
(12:25):
a bit of a crowd. It's somethinginteresting, it's something new.
That's just one element of it. Imean, we've got, again, a local
barber coming in to store justto kind of show wet shave the
experience, I mean, we sell theproduct, it would be crazy not
to tell our customers how to useit, in the best way possible.
We've worked with shoe shinersin the past, you know, is it's
(12:46):
quite a niche market in somerespects, but in others is a
whole wide world of experience.
That's readily available forcustomers. Yeah,
PB (12:56):
I guess that's, well, that's true. If you've got a variety of
different products that you'reselling, you can open up the
lifestyle that's associated tothat product, as opposed to if
you're just maybe selling shoes,and you kind of cornered into
what you can do. Can you talkabout the social media element?
Because I'm interested to knowas you guys are like one man,
that doesn't make sense, but onemen bands? Like, yeah, someone's
(13:19):
got to pay attention to what'shappening on your social
channels. How do you how do youkind of make sure that the
quality is up to scratch?
Unknown (13:26):
I think we we've been quite fortunate with the guys
that we work with, within ourteam. Over the years, you know,
they've got specialities thatkind of lend themselves to well,
going over into social mediawhen it comes to like
photography, content writing.
And that's kind of all gelledtogether quite nicely. It's
something that we've now startedto focus on more so kind of post
(13:49):
pandemic, obvious reasons. But Ithink yeah, it's just kind of
reach out a little bit further,because we've got such a well
established based as a, as akind of bricks and mortar store,
it'd be nice to kind of spreadthat experience across online as
well. And just reach out topeople. So yeah, we've started
to focus a bit more on Facebook,on Instagram, and other channels
(14:11):
as well.
PB (14:15):
Is there one that's working better for you than anything
else?
Unknown (14:18):
I'd say Facebook and Instagram probably work equally
as well as each other. More sothan tick tock for us. I know
it's great for some people, andnot knocking it at all, but for
our customers, maybe not so much
PB (14:32):
just yet. But and we've Instagram, is there one head
that kind of overseeseverything. And the reason why I
ask it's a bit of a loadedquestion, but I used to work for
a tailor down in Shoreditch. Andthey were like a group of us
that all had the logins forInstagram, and everyone kind of
did their own thing posted theirown stuff. And each time I would
post stuff, he'd pull me asideand go pete this crap. I'd find
(14:53):
my post deleted and I'm like,Well, hold on a minute that that
looks really cool, but it'squite hard some of the time And
when, when it's not just oneperson vetting the whole thing,
when there's lots of differentheads involved in one vision for
the channel, do you ever findout or are your minds all
synched up?
Unknown (15:10):
Well, to be fair, as they say, too many chefs in the
kitchen and all that? Yeah, no,we have a set team, three
people, and they'll kind of dealwith it, you know, between
themselves, and they'll come toa decision and post all the
content. We'll have ourphotographer kind of taking all
the pictures in house, creatingthe content, essentially, just
(15:31):
giving a huge image bank to usto the other guys will then
decide on the post and thewriting underneath and
everything, descriptions,
PB (15:38):
Instagram, by the way, Burroughs and hair, it's a place
we can check out the shotsbecause the image is really
strong. But yeah, I guess that'sprobably the way to do it is
just have a set team and thendrill it down to a couple of
people. Talk to me about thewhat's in store for you guys,
now that you've just opened upthe new store down there, what
plans have you got for the restof the year, anything else on
(15:59):
the horizon,
Unknown (16:00):
there's always plans, there's always ideas, it's just
getting them out there. Youknow, there's, there's loads of
ideas, tonnes of factors. Butessentially, what we want to do
is just narrow it down toorganic growth in everything
that we do, you know, introducethings when time is right, for
our customers. So it's importantthat we don't rush. And when we
present it on the shelves, iswhat we would consider, you
(16:22):
know, a one product top product.
So I think for us, we're goingto really focus on our grooming
and shaving range movingforward. We have really strong
categories that were never, butwe don't want to kind of drop
off a cliff, you know, we wantto really carry on focusing on
those really working hard, andthose are just adding. So yeah,
the additions this year, I thinkwill be kind of the shaving
(16:44):
line, the grooming skincarerange. That'd be quite
interesting.
PB (16:50):
It's interesting that you've got like an engaged audience
that come to you. And I wonderif that's down to a few things.
Basically, having a communitywhere more people there and the
more people that come in andshare these experiences with
you, the more you can nurtureand foster those relationships.
But then, what about the onlinecommunity? Do you feel like
there's people online that youregularly speak to or there's
(17:10):
like an audience that youregularly engage with online
versus in person?
Unknown (17:15):
To be fair, it's a very much similar customer base
online, as it is in stores arethe people that we see coming in
store, for example, creatives,people who are very successful
in their fields? Students,everybody upwards, you know. And
there's a similar offeringonline, it's just a matter of
finding the same type of personreally, on a larger scale,
(17:37):
because there's plenty of peopleout there that are kind of
warming to what we do theyreally like what we do. Engage
with us our content, ourproduct, and why
PB (17:47):
not the place to go by the way the website borrows and
hair.co.uk hair spelled h a r eand we'll put all the links over
on the show notes. did a reallygreat talking to you. Thanks for
jumping on and talking about thebrand. And next time I'm down
that way I'll certainly drop byand how do people get to Marlo?
What's the best way if you're aLondoner?
Unknown (18:06):
If you're a Londoner?
You should already know how toget tomorrow.
PB (18:09):
I'm asking for other people you know that? Don't know.
Unknown (18:13):
Of course of course. Am Corty towards Oxford. And then
yeah, you'll see signs tomorrowyou veer off lovely part of the
world. The sun will come out assoon as you hit the dual
carriageway on where tomorrow.
And then we'll bring you heretop of the High Street.
PB (18:25):
Nice. All right, well, we will look out for that. It's not
so because you have the temps.
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Inever did do much at geography
of school, so don't worry aboutme, but you know, stay on the
line I've got you're in goodplace you're in a good place. So
I can get it all out and posted.
(18:45):
Junaid stay on the line. I'mjust going to end this recording
but I've got a funny story. Iwant to tell you quick before
you go about Oxford. I thinkit's just come to mind. Last
time I was there but for nowI'll hit pause Junaid thanks so
much for jumping on and I'llspeak to you soon
(19:07):
you've been listening to themenswear style podcast be sure
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content and email info atmenswear style.co.uk If you'd
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support the show by leaving areview on iTunes or wherever
you're listening to thispodcast. Until next time
Hello welcome back to another episode of the menswear
style podcast. I'm your hostPete Brooker and today on the
show I am talking to Junaid andsorry he is the MD over a
Burroughs and hair and that's ha r e hair, burrows and hair,
men's lifestyle and grooming fora new generation of discerning
gentleman. Their vision forevery item is that it be
(00:32):
beautifully crafted, built tolast and live organically with
those who wear it and within itsenvironment. They're based down
in Oxford they've also justopened up a new store in Marlow
and I really did enjoy talkingto Junaid he's got a great
attitude when it comes to makingbricks and mortar work but he's
also not ignoring driving onlinebusiness, e commerce leveraging
(00:53):
social media and to talk allabout that and more here is
Junaid and sorry,
Unknown (00:57):
we're a small brand kind of started off in Oxford,
Menswear. We like to think ofourselves as quite timeless, to
have a timeless aesthetic withinour collection. And what we do,
we just focus on good product,you know, we're not looking for
things that are in one seasonout the next, we're just looking
for that kind of timeless,classic, well made product, that
(01:18):
people just would love to haveit
PB (01:20):
you know, and so you kind of a portfolio company, you're an
independent, you have yourmentioning of Mike, you're a
family run business, and you'vegot other brands, but you also
have your own name on the label.
So you also do your ownproducts, right? Yeah.
Unknown (01:32):
So we work quite hard on our own brand. Growing it
organically, you know, when whenthe time dictates, shall we say
because we're so busy. But yeah,we're, we started off as a multi
brand offering, we're still amulti brand offering as well. We
stopped kind of like mindedbrands, if you want to put it
that way. So brands who reallyjust specialise in what they do
unique pieces, good fabricationmade really well,
PB (01:57):
you know, and how do you vet the brands? I mean, you've how
many brands have you got on yourbooks?
Unknown (02:02):
Right? That's a bit of a difficult question, really, in
terms of the number of brands,I'd say we've got quite a few on
the books, at least 15 Maybe 20brands, but we're just picking
what we like from these brands,you know, their specialities.
They do great collections, ourvast collection some of these
guys but we just like to pickwhat's right for us and sits
(02:24):
well in our stores really,because predominantly, we're a
bricks and mortar retailer,that's how we've started when we
started our business. That's thebread and butter of the business
as opposed to online. Whichworks well for us. We we love
facing customers, you know,dealing with customers on a
daily basis hearing directlyfrom them, the interaction,
(02:44):
everything that comes withbricks and mortar retail, it's
all part of the fun. So havingsaid that, you know, multi brand
offering is good, but we focuson own brand as well. Just to
offer a little bit something alittle bit different.
PB (02:58):
So just dial it back for us a little bit Junaid Yeah, when
did you open the very firststore down there in Oxford,
Unknown (03:04):
very first store. This was opened in 2015. Just towards
the end of summer, to be fair,so it was sort of July August
time that we opened up in thisreally, really amazing little
independent area in the citycentre of Oxford, the cupboard
market, which was really nice tobe part of that kind of history
and heritage of such a greatplace. And it worked really well
(03:26):
for us.
PB (03:26):
And do you have like a core audience down there? Is it is it
students I mean, what sort ofpeople come into your store what
they're looking for?
Unknown (03:34):
It's quite funny actually. Starting off in
Oxford, people would alwaysassume you have a huge student
following but essentially, it'sa bit more of an aspirational
price point for a student withthat being said, you know, they
can start to buy into the store,but they probably wouldn't come
in and they're not the bulk ofthe customer. I think a lot of
(03:54):
the locals from Oxford Cityitself and the surrounding areas
have been a good base of ourcustomer profile. But you know,
with that being said, you know,we sell we serve the student
population pretty well. With ourproduct range is quite vast, you
know, it's not just clothing, wedo accessories, we do bags, you
know, we do skincare grooming.
So there's always something tobuy into, and stationary course
(04:16):
what students station
PB (04:20):
without. And you've just opened up a second shop now just
in Marlow. So how are you? Howold is that shop? And how's it
going?
Unknown (04:29):
This is coming up to six months here in Marlow. Five
to six months, I should say. Andthis is this is going well.
We've is going as expected. Sowe've come from humble
beginnings in the cupboardmarket with a small shop,
similar to the size of whatwe're in Marlow, you know and
the footfall is very similar toMarlo in that respect where it's
(04:51):
it's steady. It's nothing hugethat people aren't coming in the
masses. But we find that theright people are coming through
the doors, people who areinterested in Again, we've had a
great reaction so far. So yeah,I really look forward to the
rest of the year here.
PB (05:05):
As I mentioned off, Mike have ran an independent fashion
store in my time. And if peoplewere playing the drinking game
at home, they always have tohave a swig when I mentioned
that, because it does come up inevery other show. But the reason
why I mentioned is because wehad a lease on the building in
Cambridge, but it was inCambridge shear, so it was way
out in the sticks. So we justtreated the building like a
(05:26):
warehouse with a shop floor.
Basically, we knew we weren'tgoing to get a lot of footfall.
But on the flip side, we knewthat we could save money in the
company and just have a showcaseroom and basically drive it as
an E commerce site. Do you havethat kind of angle where you're
looking to mainly drive it as Ecommerce are you kind of
thinking this could be more ofan empire where you open up more
bricks and mortar.
Unknown (05:51):
Preferably, you know, in an ideal world, we'd like the
best of both. But our kind offoundation lies in bricks and
mortar retail, we're notignoring the E commerce side of
things and the online side ofthings. That's our shop to the
world, essentially, for bricksand mortar. That's where that's
our foundations. We like thatexperience. We like to decorate
(06:12):
the shops, you know, make themlook nice, give you that
experience, and that feel you'vewalked into somewhere special
unit backed by somethingspecial. I mean, with that being
said, we've picked up drapersawards as well, for best shops
that this was in 2019.
PB (06:28):
And who's doing the shop here? are you designing these?
Or are you getting other peopleand
Unknown (06:31):
everything that we do is in house? So yeah, like I
said, we're a family runbusiness. Our team has stuck
around with us from the verybeginning as well, we've had new
additions, and they're allgreat, they stick around for a
long time. But we all workreally hard. But when it comes
down to the design here thatwill
PB (06:46):
go in house and you say family, that you and your
brother that are kind of themain heads of the company.
Unknown (06:53):
We are yet but we're the second generation. So he's
been in the business. He's beenthere done that. semi retired,
we dragged him out of retirementfor a little bit of help. But
yeah, so that's where we kind ofget our inspiration from, you
know, so yeah, I always say tocustomers, as well, we're second
generation retailers, we reallylove the bricks and mortar. And
(07:17):
that's the way we're going tocontinue.
PB (07:18):
Yeah. Being brought out of retirement to help with your
son's clothing business isn't assexy as you normally hear it in
the movies where someone's beenbrought out of retirement for
one last assignment. He neverreally retired, he never did.
Unknown (07:33):
Yeah, he's always working, he's always busy, you
can never you can never keep himdown. As much as you tell him to
kind of rest and whatever. Youcan never keep him down. He
loves it. It's, it's a labour oflove. And that's kind of
trickled down to us. We lovewhat we do. We enjoy what we do.
And I think that kind of comesacross to the customers their
experience in store and ourproduct range. Ideas. You know,
(07:54):
we always asking customers,what, what are you looking for?
How can we improve? You know? Sowe really engage it was
PB (08:01):
your dad, was he a tailor?
He was a retailer, near theretail, okay, so he knows the
business.
Unknown (08:06):
He knows the business.
He knows the business. He was hestarted off in the 1980s when
times are good, you know, when,when there were very few kind of
high end, retailers, again,Oxford, and yet people coming
from all over before theinternet. So that was
interesting. The times weredifferent. They weren't as tough
for retailers as they are now.
(08:29):
You know, we have a lot ofhurdles now that they didn't
have back then. But that's allpart of the fun, you know?
PB (08:35):
And do you know you live with me I know of like I say
from running an independentstore. I lived above the fashion
shop, when for about threeyears. And because it wasn't
kitted out with the immediateease of being a home, we that
there was no shower, basically,there was no kitchen, I
basically slipped in the stockroom with all the mannequins and
(08:56):
the boxes. So I can I can seelike the unsexy side of the
business as it were, I imaginethere must be some
bootstrapping, when it's just asmall knit run business, you got
a family and stuff like that. Soperhaps talk to me about the
obstacles that you face and, andhow you kind of trying to
streamline the business and keepthe fat off.
Unknown (09:15):
Essentially, you must always have a good work ethic,
you have to be prepared to doeverything yourself, where you
kind of introduced me at thebeginning of the show was
everything like we have to doeverything we have to take the
bins out you have to serve thecustomers, you have to develop
products, you have to source youknow you have to merchandise you
have to look how you can growthe business, different
(09:35):
channels, etc. So you reallyhave to have a good work ethic,
you have to be ready to doeverything. But I think if you
have the thinking that, youknow, this is something that you
would love to do. There'snothing else that you'd rather
be doing. Then of course, you'regonna throw yourself into it.
And you really kind of you takeit on and there's something to
get your teeth into. Well, Iwouldn't say it's kind of
(09:56):
unsexy. There's a there's a fewthings that are There's no
really any hurdles, really, thatwill stop you from getting into
bricks and mortar retail, Ithink a lot of the time you can
hear things, you know, it's hardout on the high street, etc,
etc. Providing you're willing towork hard, I don't think there's
a many obstacles that are gonnastop you from that.
PB (10:17):
I mean, I treated it like working behind the bar, because
I've also lived and worked andlived in pubs before. And you
get to realise that it becomes away of life rather than a nine
to five, right? So what youdon't see when you come in and
buy a pint is that guy mighthave been up since two o'clock
in the morning, cleaning thelines, and he's there shutting
up after 11, you know, cleaningup after everyone's gone. You
(10:39):
know, nothing is like fits inbetween normal work hours. And I
imagine running a business likeyours. That applies as well.
Unknown (10:47):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. But at the same
time, you can add to the theatrefor the customers, you know,
that whole kind of action ofwhat's going on in store, I'll
give you an example. We'll haveswatches arriving in store. And
then you know, the best placeand time for us to get together
to make decisions on productsand future fabrics that we're
going to use across shirts,jackets, trousers, wherever they
are, you know, we'll haveswatches laid out all over the
(11:08):
table. And then people will comein and you know, there'll be
intrigued you know what's goingon here to be interested, you
know what you choosing that forall that's really nice, you're
going to be using it for nextwinter or next spring or
whatever. It just adds a bit oftheatre to the place, but at the
same time, there's things thatyou really need to get done. But
yeah, that's interesting,because
PB (11:26):
it's all on show, right? So when it arrives, it's not like
it goes to a what I presume itdoesn't go to a warehouse and
another HQ, and there's amillion of a heads all involved.
It's kind of happening there.
And then so you have to bethere. And that attracts
attention.
Unknown (11:38):
That's it. That's it.
And I think you'll find that ina lot of businesses and small
brands, you know, where they doeverything. There's always
something going on the theatrein store is it's always
exciting.
PB (11:50):
Outside of that, have you thought about putting any other
experiences in the shop, like,you know, introducing, like
coffee or any kind of yogaclasses, you know, those sorts
of things that can kind ofproduce a little bit extra to
the customer?
Unknown (12:03):
Well, yeah, that's, that's exactly to be fair. Yes,
is the short answer. And there'sthings that we've done in the
past, we've had events, youknow, we've had, in our talk
specifically about Oxford, forexample, we've we've worked with
local kind of coffee roasters,and they've come in and we've
had a nice little day or twoover the weekend, you know, with
the customers getting freecoffee in the store, it drags in
(12:25):
a bit of a crowd. It's somethinginteresting, it's something new.
That's just one element of it. Imean, we've got, again, a local
barber coming in to store justto kind of show wet shave the
experience, I mean, we sell theproduct, it would be crazy not
to tell our customers how to useit, in the best way possible.
We've worked with shoe shinersin the past, you know, is it's
(12:46):
quite a niche market in somerespects, but in others is a
whole wide world of experience.
That's readily available forcustomers. Yeah,
PB (12:56):
I guess that's, well, that's true. If you've got a variety of
different products that you'reselling, you can open up the
lifestyle that's associated tothat product, as opposed to if
you're just maybe selling shoes,and you kind of cornered into
what you can do. Can you talkabout the social media element?
Because I'm interested to knowas you guys are like one man,
that doesn't make sense, but onemen bands? Like, yeah, someone's
(13:19):
got to pay attention to what'shappening on your social
channels. How do you how do youkind of make sure that the
quality is up to scratch?
Unknown (13:26):
I think we we've been quite fortunate with the guys
that we work with, within ourteam. Over the years, you know,
they've got specialities thatkind of lend themselves to well,
going over into social mediawhen it comes to like
photography, content writing.
And that's kind of all gelledtogether quite nicely. It's
something that we've now startedto focus on more so kind of post
(13:49):
pandemic, obvious reasons. But Ithink yeah, it's just kind of
reach out a little bit further,because we've got such a well
established based as a, as akind of bricks and mortar store,
it'd be nice to kind of spreadthat experience across online as
well. And just reach out topeople. So yeah, we've started
to focus a bit more on Facebook,on Instagram, and other channels
(14:11):
as well.
PB (14:15):
Is there one that's working better for you than anything
else?
Unknown (14:18):
I'd say Facebook and Instagram probably work equally
as well as each other. More sothan tick tock for us. I know
it's great for some people, andnot knocking it at all, but for
our customers, maybe not so much
PB (14:32):
just yet. But and we've Instagram, is there one head
that kind of overseeseverything. And the reason why I
ask it's a bit of a loadedquestion, but I used to work for
a tailor down in Shoreditch. Andthey were like a group of us
that all had the logins forInstagram, and everyone kind of
did their own thing posted theirown stuff. And each time I would
post stuff, he'd pull me asideand go pete this crap. I'd find
(14:53):
my post deleted and I'm like,Well, hold on a minute that that
looks really cool, but it'squite hard some of the time And
when, when it's not just oneperson vetting the whole thing,
when there's lots of differentheads involved in one vision for
the channel, do you ever findout or are your minds all
synched up?
Unknown (15:10):
Well, to be fair, as they say, too many chefs in the
kitchen and all that? Yeah, no,we have a set team, three
people, and they'll kind of dealwith it, you know, between
themselves, and they'll come toa decision and post all the
content. We'll have ourphotographer kind of taking all
the pictures in house, creatingthe content, essentially, just
(15:31):
giving a huge image bank to usto the other guys will then
decide on the post and thewriting underneath and
everything, descriptions,
PB (15:38):
Instagram, by the way, Burroughs and hair, it's a place
we can check out the shotsbecause the image is really
strong. But yeah, I guess that'sprobably the way to do it is
just have a set team and thendrill it down to a couple of
people. Talk to me about thewhat's in store for you guys,
now that you've just opened upthe new store down there, what
plans have you got for the restof the year, anything else on
(15:59):
the horizon,
Unknown (16:00):
there's always plans, there's always ideas, it's just
getting them out there. Youknow, there's, there's loads of
ideas, tonnes of factors. Butessentially, what we want to do
is just narrow it down toorganic growth in everything
that we do, you know, introducethings when time is right, for
our customers. So it's importantthat we don't rush. And when we
present it on the shelves, iswhat we would consider, you
(16:22):
know, a one product top product.
So I think for us, we're goingto really focus on our grooming
and shaving range movingforward. We have really strong
categories that were never, butwe don't want to kind of drop
off a cliff, you know, we wantto really carry on focusing on
those really working hard, andthose are just adding. So yeah,
the additions this year, I thinkwill be kind of the shaving
(16:44):
line, the grooming skincarerange. That'd be quite
interesting.
PB (16:50):
It's interesting that you've got like an engaged audience
that come to you. And I wonderif that's down to a few things.
Basically, having a communitywhere more people there and the
more people that come in andshare these experiences with
you, the more you can nurtureand foster those relationships.
But then, what about the onlinecommunity? Do you feel like
there's people online that youregularly speak to or there's
(17:10):
like an audience that youregularly engage with online
versus in person?
Unknown (17:15):
To be fair, it's a very much similar customer base
online, as it is in stores arethe people that we see coming in
store, for example, creatives,people who are very successful
in their fields? Students,everybody upwards, you know. And
there's a similar offeringonline, it's just a matter of
finding the same type of personreally, on a larger scale,
(17:37):
because there's plenty of peopleout there that are kind of
warming to what we do theyreally like what we do. Engage
with us our content, ourproduct, and why
PB (17:47):
not the place to go by the way the website borrows and
hair.co.uk hair spelled h a r eand we'll put all the links over
on the show notes. did a reallygreat talking to you. Thanks for
jumping on and talking about thebrand. And next time I'm down
that way I'll certainly drop byand how do people get to Marlo?
What's the best way if you're aLondoner?
Unknown (18:06):
If you're a Londoner?
You should already know how toget tomorrow.
PB (18:09):
I'm asking for other people you know that? Don't know.
Unknown (18:13):
Of course of course. Am Corty towards Oxford. And then
yeah, you'll see signs tomorrowyou veer off lovely part of the
world. The sun will come out assoon as you hit the dual
carriageway on where tomorrow.
And then we'll bring you heretop of the High Street.
PB (18:25):
Nice. All right, well, we will look out for that. It's not
so because you have the temps.
Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Inever did do much at geography
of school, so don't worry aboutme, but you know, stay on the
line I've got you're in goodplace you're in a good place. So
I can get it all out and posted.
(18:45):
Junaid stay on the line. I'mjust going to end this recording
but I've got a funny story. Iwant to tell you quick before
you go about Oxford. I thinkit's just come to mind. Last
time I was there but for nowI'll hit pause Junaid thanks so
much for jumping on and I'llspeak to you soon
(19:07):
you've been listening to themenswear style podcast be sure
to head over to menswear styledot code at uk for more menswear
content and email info atmenswear style.co.uk If you'd
like to be a future guest on theshow. Finally, please help
support the show by leaving areview on iTunes or wherever
you're listening to thispodcast. Until next time
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