Sam Glass & Son? Gone. Hamburgers? Gone. Bernard Hill, G. Briggs and Calby's? Gone, gone, gone.
While these independently owned men's clothing stores and others in Baltimore buckled under the weight of suburban malls and large retail chains, Gage World Class Mens Store is triumphantly celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The company, with 50 employees at its stores downtown and in Owings Mills, says it has survived on customer service as impeccable as a Joseph Abboud suit.
Gage's customer relations go way beyond greeting people when they enter the store. If you've been there, they know your size. If you spend more than $250, you'll get a thank-you note at home. And you're likely to get a call from a salesperson to make sure your wife liked the suit and to mention an upcoming sale.
"We have a customer-for-life philosophy," said Bill Glazer, Gage's 44-year-old president, sitting in his office at the downtown store, dressed in a suit (what else?) of Italian make and one-inch-apart pinstripes. "Every time a customer comes into the store, we're happy to sell something, but the real value is to get a customer to come back every time they need menswear."
Gage has also stayed afloat by investing $250,000 to remodel its downtown store six years ago while opening in the suburbs, consulting for troubled retailers, and liquidating extra merchandise at biannual sales at the Timonium Fairgrounds.
Last year's revenues surpassed those of 1994 by 7.8 percent, and Gage expects to perform even better this year. The company would not disclose net income figures.
"They're very smart local retailers, with a good eye for merchandise, consistent advertising and good customer service," said Mark A. Millman, president of Millman Search Group Inc., a national retail consulting firm in Lutherville. "Bill [Glazer] is a strong merchant who keeps his eye on the ball and makes changes according to consumer needs. He's very hands-on, and if he's not, the big boys are going to eat him for lunch."
These days, the "big boys" are Men's Wearhouse, the Toys 'R' Us of menswear. The Freemont, Calif.-based national chain has stores in Gaithersburg and Pikesville, and is opening new ones in White Marsh, Towson, Columbia and Rockville in the next month.
"They're going to circle the area and pump the airwaves, which will take some customers away from Gage," Millman said. "Gage is going to have to fight to keep their market share."
