On today's show: 1. M. Dumas and Sons website - https://mdumasandsons.com/ 2. Johnnie-O website - https://www.johnnie-o.com/ 3. Southern Tide website - https://southerntide.com 4. M. Dumas and Sons to Open in Mount Pleasant Towne Centre in September - https://holycitysinner.com/news/m-dumas-and-sons-to-open-in-mount-pleasant-towne-centre-in-s/ This episode's music is by Tyler Boone (tylerboonemusic.com). The episode was produced by LMC Soundsystem.
Holy City Sinner Radio
Episode 289 - Gary Flynn, CEO and co-owner of M. Dumas and Sons - (8/28/24)
Holy City Center Radio is episode 289, and I am your host Christian Sanger today. It is Wednesday, August 28, 20, 24. Welcome to Holy City Center Radio. It's Wednesday as I mentioned in the intro. It's the middle of the week. It's already almost a weekend, isn't that pretty great? I have a good show for you today to help you just get one step closer, a little bit quicker to that weekend. It's an interview episode. You know how these go. Nice chance for you all to relax. Learn something about things that are going on locally. Learn about a local person of interest. We got all of it for you in today's interview. You don't have to worry about any doom and gloom political news or anything like that today because we're talking with Gary Flynn. He is the CEO and co-owner of M Dumas and Sons. Even if you don't quite know the brand, you probably know the brand. It is a shop that has been on King Street since 1917. That's right. Now, they've bounced around King Street a few times as you'll learn about in the interview, but has always been located on King Street and have been in their current location since the early 1970s. This is a long time, Charles, and staple. Like I said, you may know the name. You might be a long time dedicated shopper at the store, but there's a lot to learn whether it's the past, present, or future of this business because they are opening a new M Dumas and Sons location across the bridge Mount Pleasant, and that's happening next month. So if you didn't know that, now you do, and you're going to get some more details about it. So for those of you who don't want to make the trek downtown, you'll be able to visit them in Mount Pleasant. You may also be unaware that they have two other brands that they own and oversee Johnny O, which is in the Charleston place and Southern Tide, which is over in Mount Pleasant Town Center. That's also those are two of their other brands. So you may not have known that I didn't going into this interview, but I did learn it. So I learned a lot. The history, of course, is always super impressive and interesting, especially a business that's been around for over a century. So it was interesting to hear just some of that background, but we do talk about what they're currently offering and what the plans are for that new location. So enjoy the interview. I think it's a good one, but then, you know, I know I always do, but truly, we've got some great people in town and we, anytime I talk to any interview I've ever had is always, I'm always impressed with the person, the topic and the information. So I think you will be as well. So without any further rambling from me, let's get in to the interview with Gary Flynn, the CEO and co owner of M Dumas and Sons. And as promised, joining me now is Gary Flynn so excited to talk to him today. Gary, thank you so much for joining me. I'm happy to. Thank you for having me in today. I appreciate it. Of course, of course. So, you know, you are the CEO and co owner of N Dumas and Sons, which, I mean, if you spend any time in Charleston, you're familiar with the brand, I'm sure. And we'll talk a little bit about it, you know, for those who don't know the history, we'll also talk about some fun and exciting things that are coming up for the company. But before we do any of that, I like to anytime I have a guest on just have them, you know, tell me and the listeners, of course, a little bit about themselves, any background that you feel like sharing, you know, whether you're from here moved here, how you got involved in the company, anything you think is important, just so people kind of get an idea of who you are. Yeah, great. Thanks. So, I've been with Dumas now a little over eight years, and I have spent my entire career in better men's retailing. I started my career with Nordstrom and was there for 27 years and kind of ran through the gamut there sales all the way through to leading and merchandising division for the whole company. And then from there, I spent a number of years with Hugo Boss, working in New York in the New York headquarters, being in charge of retail merchandising for North America and South America. And then I ended up in Charleston working with Dumas, a funny little bit of interesting story there that David Dumas, this is the store is now 107 years old. It's third generation. David Dumas is the surviving Dumas family member that's my partner in the business. But unfortunately, David has lost his eyesight. And so to do this business, you kind of got to be able to, you know, see the floor and see the customers and see the products and all that. Yeah, and you know, I can't imagine anything happening to me that would be worse than that. You know, what I do, so my heart broke and went out to him saying like he's the last Dumas in the family, you know, if he can't get a good partner to move forward with, they might have to close the operation down. And David really didn't want to do that to his family legacy on his watch and all of that. So, thankfully, you know, I landed here and have been helping out for the last eight years, moving us forward. So that's, that's kind of my background. Very cool. And yeah, I think that'll certainly help people just kind of get an idea of who you are as a person before we kind of talk about, you know, what you do for work. And you mentioned that the company is 107 years old, which is amazing that companies can hang around, you know, for that long. You know, this has been a staple in the community for over a century. And you talked a little bit about the history, but anything else regarding the history of the company that you feel is interesting or important. Yeah, yeah, thank you. So, it's been on King Street the whole time, but this is actually our third physical location on King Street. And we moved into the building that we're in now in 1973. Prior to us moving into it, those that have been in Charleston for a long time might remember Haverty's furniture store. That's what was in our location before we moved into it. And so back then the Dumas family bought the building that we're in. And we've been operating out of it since 1973. About 20 years ago, there was another men's store right next door to us called AJ Davis. And they were in the more the suit type business. And Dumas and Sons has always been more on the casual side of things. It's, you know, we've reinvented ourselves a bunch of times over the last 107 years, but it mostly has been in the casual sports for a world. We've, you know, did outdoor world where before we've, you know, done waiters. We've done cowboy boots. We've done, you know, we're a big Levi resource at one point. So the forties during the war, we outfitted the Navy. We used to slap on company logos on their, on their Dickies for local gas stations and other local businesses like exterminators or whatever else that might want to have a uniform. So we've done all of those sorts of things. But like I said, a second ago, 20 years ago or so, AJ Davis went away and David Dumas at the time said, Okay, we're getting into the suit business. And so they released the other side of the building and opened up some walkways in between and almost doubled the size of the store and got into the tailor clothing business overnight. And so since then, we've been honing our game on the Taylor clothing side. And that's one of the big focuses I've had since I moved into into town eight years ago was to really be as well known in that world as we are in the casual sports for world. Interesting. I didn't realize, you know, that there had been so many changes like that over the years. I mean, I assume there was obviously going to be some as fashions change and things, but I didn't realize, you know, it would go from, you know, being a little bit more casual. And like you said, like providing things for people's work uniforms, all the way to, you know, suits and tailoring and things that's, it's quite the evolution. Although I'm assuming, you know, sort of stayed in that same wheelhouse of just men's fashion in general, of course. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. And I like to think of it as evolution, not revolution, right? We're not reinventing the wheel here, but we are, you know, we're involving. And, you know, we want to stay, we want to be as relevant today as we ever have been in the last hundred seven years. So we're constantly out in the marketplace looking for new things, looking for new brands, looking for new categories, looking for new experiences for our customers. We want you to come into our store every time you come into the store and experience something new that you hadn't seen before. And yet, you know, another thing that we try to get across to people when they walk through the doors is we mean business when it comes to product. We have a lot of product. And we almost want to hit you in the forehead with it when you walk through the doors, like, oh my God, look at all the stuff in this place. And the next thought we want you to have as well, if I can't find it here, I probably can't find it anywhere. And that's the ideally how we want you to feel when you're there is like, this is a one stop shop for me. I don't have to go to 15 different stores on King Street to get everything I want. That's all underneath the one roof right here. You know, speaking for myself, but I think a lot of people in general, but men, especially when it comes to fashion, I feel like stores, when you hear of a store like yours and there's some others that do, you know, somewhat similar things to what you guys are doing. And it can seem a little intimidating to, oh, am I going to walk in there and, you know, if I have no idea what I'm doing, you know, someone going to be helpful. They're going to look down on me, you know, so, can you speak to that for the people who are just worried that, oh, I don't really know fashion and I'm afraid if I go in there, it's intimidating. Yeah, I mean, to me, the whole experience is about the one on one interaction you have salesperson to customer. And, you know, it's not about the clothes that we carry. It's really about that relationship. And it's about trust. And it's about us listening and understanding what the need is and understanding what kind of the price threshold is and understanding how to solve the problem. You know, that's how I look at us like we're in the we're in the concierge business, we're in the problem solving business, which just so happens that we, you know, sell clothes. But, you know, you've got a wedding to go to and you haven't worn a suit in 10 years and you got it. You got to look right. It's your daughter's wedding or whatever it's, you know, you're getting back on the interview scene and you haven't done that for a while. What's what's the right thing to be wearing now, or I'm new to Charles tonight, but where should we go to dinner? Like, you know, all of those things we want to have good answers for when they come in the store. And it's, you know, that the atmosphere is hugely important. You know, we want, you know, we want the right music plan. We want a happy atmosphere. You know, we'll we'll slap a beer in your hand if you want or a scotch if you want, you know, or it's hot outside and you just want to sit down and have a cold water. We'll give you that too. You know, we've got really great restrooms and people know that and they come into our store just for the restrooms and hopefully we get them to stumble on something while they're in the store. You know, so we really want that, that we want to, we want to be proud of the product that we carry and know that we carry the highest quality stuff, but we don't want to come across stuffy or ostentatious in any way. And that's, that's a, that's a struggle. You know, when you're selling a sport coat that's, you know, $10,000 to somebody, you got to, he's used to be treated one way. And then, you know, you're selling a pair of duck head pants at $99 or somebody else and he wants to be treated the way he wants to be treated. So you really got to read the, read the room and read the customer and understand what their needs are. And then hopefully come across as I'm here to help. And that should hopefully diffuse any of that. Gosh, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't feel comfortable doing this. We want to solve that problem for you. That's, yeah, great to hear. And I thought that was probably going to be the case, but, you know, I know people would still be thinking it if I didn't ask. So yeah, it's great to know. And I'm sure over the, the years that the business itself, as it's been passed down, you know, and different workers have been there and then your own personal experience. I'm sure you've been able to, to figure out the balance of, you know, figuring out how each individual customer wants to be treated and being able to adjust, you know, whether it's a pitch or, you know, just trying to help them find what's best for them. You know, it's become easier over time, I'm sure. Yeah, I know one of the things we, I always want our team to be thinking through is, you know, sometimes, again, like you said earlier, we have a lot of product in that store that can be overwhelming. And so it's our job to narrow in on what is right for someone and really our job to say, you know what, no, you know, I understand why you're drawn to that item, but that's not the right fit for you or it's not the right fabric for what you're looking for it. Telling people know kind of lends a little bit of credibility to what you're doing, because most salespeople only say, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you want that, you know, right, I want you to have this. This is going to be great on you. Well, that's not always the case. Like sometimes you're like, you know what, this is too trim for you. This is not the right product for you. We need to get you in something that's more appropriate for you. And they, and customers really appreciate that approach. So, you know, having a business that's been around for over a century, you know, you've talked about how it evolves and things change, whether it's fashions or approaches and what the community wants, but in addition to that, you're also expanding outside of King Street. That's the news. Can you tell us more about the new location that you have coming to Mount Pleasant? Yeah, I'd love to. So, yeah, this will be the very first second to do a store that we've ever opened. We do have two other stores that we've opened over the last five years, but there are other branded stores. So you may may or may not know it, but there's a southern tide store in town center that we own and operate. There's a Johnny O store in Charleston, place downtown that we opened last September that we own and operate. But this is going to be the first M. Dumas and Son store outside of King Street, and it's is your right. It's in town center in Mount Pleasant, and we're super excited about it. You know, me being living in Mount Pleasant, and I live kind of in North Mount Pleasant. I live out in Park West. I drive by town center every day on my way downtown, and I drive by every day on my way home. And I know my neighbors, and I know how infrequently they go downtown and how much they see it as a chore to go downtown, you know, parking to deal with, and there's tourists and it's expensive. And the bridge traffic and just it's almost overwhelming sometimes so downtown for a lot of Mount Pleasant people and surrounding areas is a kind of a special event. You know, you're going down for a special anniversary dinner and while you're downtown, you're going to do a few things, or you might be doing us, you know, come and stay in downtown for the weekend, but that day and day out shopping. They don't want to come downtown for it. And so I said, you know, let's bring it to you then. Let's let's bring Dumas to you. And that's, that's what we're trying to do here. So we're looking to open September 13 is our opening day. So we're less than a month away from it now. And I'm staying, I'm sitting in that store right now having this interview with you as chat with you. And we're knee deep in boxes and products and fixtures and, you know, trying to get it all put together so that we're ready to open. I assume it's crunch time now opening next month, you know, just getting everything together. And I'm sure it's going to look great and come together for you all. What, what are besides, you know, what maybe people have come to expect already from M. Dumas and sons if they visited downtown. Is there anything different? You know, you've mentioned, obviously, you don't have to travel downtown better parking. Anything different with the store? Is it pretty much going to be mostly the same that people are used to. Well, this is a delicate balance here because we don't want to disappoint anybody when they come. You know, they've, they're used to shopping in almost a 10,000 square foot store with tons and tons of products when they're going to come into a 4,000 square foot store. And so, you know, there's 6,000 square feet of product that's not going to be in this store. So they're, we don't want to disappoint them. And yet, I do think that there's opportunities for us to do a better job in this store than we were able to do downtown. We don't do a great job of storytelling downtown because of how much volume we do and how much product we sell. We have to kind of stack it high and watch it fly in a lot of cases. And here, we're really going to try to romance it a little bit more and really tell you how to wear things and be a little bit more educational and really show you the look that the brand wants you to have from head to toe. And that we don't do that much downtown because we don't have the space or the picturing that's appropriate to do that. And here we will. So I try to straddle that line between we're 107 years old and you. Yes, it's the old Dumas. I love this. Oh, my God. It's amazing. And yet we want it to come across as a new approach in modern too. So we're, that's, that's, that's the challenge that I've given to myself and I think we're on the right path to doing that. Hopefully the customer will come in and tell me what they think. Oh, I'm sure it's going to go great, you know, based on just the fact that you've got experience and the stores been around and clientele here already kind of understands the brand. So I'm sure it's going to go great. And I'm sure people, especially in the Mount Pleasant area are going to be very excited. Then I have to travel downtown, especially if they're further out, like you said, but that's not to say that switching, you know, adding a new location means that downtown is going to become stale or anything. I believe you've got some new things coming up, including, is it a women's brand launch? I think I was reading. Yeah. Yeah, we're. So we've been doing business with a brand, a brand named Filson. You may know them or not. I'm not sure. But Filson is also an over 100 year old company. And they're based in Seattle, Washington, and they kind of grew up through the gold rush and and providing clothing for people to go outdoors in and go hunt for gold and go hunting and go fishing and all that. And so that we've been a partner of theirs for a lot of years and they're, they're broaching into the women's apparel part of things. And so we're going to be launching with them next month. Women's Filson. So we, we carry some women's barber in the store now and we carry some women's items in the shoe department, but this will be our first foray into women's with Filson. So yeah, we've got that going on downtown and mostly, you know, if you're still looking for an amazing sport coat selection or a suit or something custom like that, or something super luxury, like some of the Italian brands that we carry. We're going to continue to carry that downtown, but not out in Mount Pleasant Mount Pleasant is going to be a little bit more casual sportswear driven. We'll have a couple sport coats and a couple suits here or there, but that's not the story here. So we really do want downtown store to be the exciting, fun place to go for the luxury part of things that we're doing as well as all the other things we do. But so that's a good point on your part is, yeah, we don't want to forget about downtown because it's, you know, that's our baby right there. That's my first child, so to speak. So I want to make sure it's driving and doing great too. And I think, you know, having each have its own kind of point of view, I think will help us be successful in both locations. And, you know, we've talked a lot about here in the short time about the history, what's coming up, you know, what to expect. Is there anything we haven't touched on, you know, that I didn't ask you whether it's something new that you're working on, something that recently, just anything we haven't talked about that you want to let people know about right now. I think the, the only other thing we kind of alluded to it was just in general the team, and how much that team means to me and how much the people in the store are the secret sauce of M. Dumas and sons, and, you know, it's not about me and it's not about me doing these interviews and it's not me, my face in the newspaper or anything of that it's, it's where the rubber meets the road it's, it's colon who's been there for 20 years on the floor selling or it's, you know, Clark who's got amazing connections with his upstate customer service that he used to, you know, he used to live in the upstate and I was here and he's got this great collection of customers that he's brought to the store and, you know, we've got a great team top to bottom and hopefully we have somebody that matches up great with whoever the customers that walks in the door and, you know, it's all about that customer and that salesperson relationship and, you know, you'd mentioned in our, our little chat before this interview about, you know, the other stores on King Street, there's a lot of great stores on King Street and, you know, there's a ton of great amazing shops to go shop in but, ideally, we want to win over customers with that relationship piece you know, I know we've got the best product in the store but I really want to just have the best team in the store and, and I just, you know, I'm hoping every one of my team members hears this because this is truly how I feel and they know it because I talk to them about it and, you know, I don't know if they're all the time but, yeah, they're the real heroes in this story and for those listening who want to get more information whether it's about the downtown location, Mount Pleasant, both just any information they're seeking, what are the best places for them to do that besides, of course, just stopping in the stores that are open now can give you information about the fourth store that's getting ready to open, um, Mdoomisinsons.com is a great place to go to to check out not only, you know, what we're, what we're doing but, you know, kind of the new brands in the store and the events that are happening and then you can always reach out to me at the store, the, my, my office is in the downtown store and I'm available anytime to have a chat or give a person a tour or connect somebody with a sales person or do, do help someone myself. So those are probably our best resources. Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me today. I learned a lot about the history and what's coming up and I really appreciate you taking the time to let my listeners know as well. Yeah, thanks for the time. I really appreciate it. And that'll do it for this edition of Holy City Center Radio. Thank you so much for listening. We'll have some news for you on Friday as we get back to a normal episode a non interview episode. So I'll get you caught up on the latest, but don't worry. Nothing too crazy going on. So this recording that you're missing out on. But I will certainly have some updates for you on Friday. Thanks for listening. If you can like, subscribe, rate, review, all those things, anything you can do on the streaming platform you're listening on. Please do so. Um, also. Thank you to Lindsay Marie Collins for producing this and every episode of Holy City Center radio and a big thank you to Tyler Boone, whose music you hear in each and every show. Have a great rest of your week and I will talk to you on Friday. Until then, good night and good luck. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]