Maybe the most enjoyable of my experiences growing up and spending most of one's working life in a number of Southeastern North Carolina counties are the friends one meets along the years. in January 1982 I got to meet someone who would teach me as much about marketing in 30 minute visits each Tuesday morning as any college course could ever do.
In early 1982 I began work as a retail advertising salesperson with the Fayetteville Observer and took on the Robeson County route. Part of that route was the weekly stop at Joe Sugars of St. Pauls NC clothing store for their weekly ads in the newspaper. Frankly I was not prepared for the first experience of walking into this clothing store in the small town of St. Pauls. By small town I mean something like 1000 population tops and a small main street of at most two blocks. But I went to do my first call on Stanley Sugar at his clothing store in this small town pulling up to a store that was from the outside rather normal for a town this size. Into the store I went and unto my eyes I see on table after table thousands and thousands of pants, hung in rows thousands of dress coats, and stacked on shelf after shelf thousands of shirts, and huge selections of absolutely everything a well dressed man would need. Thus was Joe Sugars of St. Pauls NC and their slogan "if you got a figure we can fit it" because they have a piece of men's apparel for every need for any size man. Also in almost any color too. Seriously this was and likely still is the most men's apparel one would will find under one roof in one location on the East Coast.
So for the next decade plus of serving the newspaper advertising needs of this clothing store from my posts at two newspapers I got the priviledge of spending some time about once a week with Stanley Sugar, who was the second generation of this soon to be 100 year old establishment. Stanley would always run a series of small ads each week in the newspaper touching about every day and almost every section of the newspaper. Simply put he did this since he knew most people would look at certain sections they favored and almost any ad no matter what size would be noticed if the ad had something worth reading. He would tailor his business card sized ads for the particular section of the newspaper it was in such as women's section, sports section, general news, etc. He would generally come up with a new group of ideas each week too in what I quickly realized was a fertile mind of marketing ideas. He would do the original pull an envelope and get a discount ads and would go clever with "closed Wednesday afternoon, but open late Saturday to make up for it" ads. He had a picture in his store of a very old looking man that was labeled "35 year old clothing merchant." His dressing rooms well...err...ahh.. were labeled X rated, R rated, and G rated but all were in good taste. He had a plaque with the words " Price is what you pay and value is what you get and those who consider price alone are another man's lawful prey." To this day I have that plaque on my wall as well as I considered it wise advice.
On the days I would go pick up his ads I would either go to the back of the store and get them or go to the shoe sales area where he would be sitting and doing some book work or just taking a break. Here in the shoes I would get my masters degree on how clothing retailing and marketing worked and how it would apply to other businesses too. Stanley had a wonderful dry sense of humor that everyone would enjoy. One day I asked him what type of customer he liked to do business with best and he said it easily would be a salesperson of any type, in that they always needed good looking clothing for sales work and would buy his wares on sales and on non sales periods too. Just fine customers who would not quibble too much and he would do all he could to keep their business. As for the worst customers, he said easily lawyers and doctors, who would complain about the offerings he had and then complain more about the price. He noted they would try and "Jew" him down with one of his great laughs. Stanley being a Jew himself made the comment most funny. Stanley took his store, employees, customers, and family seriously, himself not so much.
I always found it cool and rather nice that Stanley Sugar successful clothing merchant and first in the nations now cool trend of wearing outlandish colored socks would take time to school me a young advertising salesperson. Over the years I discovered if he really liked you, he really liked you, and he would take time to chat even during a busy day. Later in his life he was wanting to pass on his store to family and was working on convincing his young nephew and the store's original owner namesake Joe Sugar Jr. to come take over the business. During the period of decision I told Stanley that he was having problems getting young Joe to come forward that I would do him the honor of marrying into his family and converting to Judaism if he would let me take over the business. Stanley laughed so hard he about feel out of his chair, then said that might have been the most honorable offer he ever had. Friends could talk with Stanley that way and I considered myself blessed to be a friend of many years.
Stanley passed on sometime later and indeed his family took over the store. Joe Sugar Jr. as expected became owner of the now almost 100 year old establishment. Since I retired I do not see Joe Jr. as much since my dress up clothing needs have dwindled a bit. However my main navy blue blazer in my closet as I write this is still labeled Joe Sugars of St. Pauls. As Stanley taught me now those almost four decades ago no well dressed man is without a good quality navy blue blazer in his closet as they go with many dress pants and make a man well dressed. So sometime next during the next 6 months I am going to drive the less than hour drive down I-95 to St. Pauls and get another blue blazer in a toast to Stanley Sugar my old friend. Might even walk around the store and think about those days we used to talk in the shoe dept. Hopefully Joe Sugar Jr. will read this and invite me to the 100th Anniversary event sometime next June 2016. In the meantime if you have not done yourself the favor of checking out this one of kind men's store do so and you will be glad you got to know Joe Sugars of St. Pauls. NC.
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