Ray Sola never thought his men’s clothing store would become a tourist attraction, but it has because of his bright yellow “Man At Leisure” sign out front.
“At first I didn’t know what they were up to, but then I saw they were taking pictures. The husband always strikes a pose, trying to look as leisurely as possible,“ Sola said with a chuckle.
“Sometimes I ask them if they want me to close the door so they can get a better angle,” he said.
The sign, which resembles the “Men At Work” sign, is not the only thing attracting attention. What’s inside is pretty terrific, too.
This fairly new shop, opened in mid-November, is exclusively for men.
“I think things are going pretty well. A large percentage of people who walk in buy something or come back and buy something. Sometimes the wife comes in with the husband. She comes back the next day and buys whatever she wants,” he said.
It is a well-known fact that most men are not shoppers the caliber of women.
“Once you get them in the door, they say, ‘Oh wow, there are a lot of nice things in this store. There is no other store like this in Prescott. It’s really nice.’”
Sola says he opened the store because he felt there was a need.
“We haven’t had one in four years. It closed. They [the owners] retired.”
His inventory runs from $20 flannel shirts up to $120 trendy items, but neither is selling better than the other.
His clothing lines include George Ross and Scott Weiland.
He says women who sew and shop at the fabric shop down the street are always impressed with his inventory.
“Everything is detail oriented. It’s not just basic. Everything is has a little embellishment,” he said.
“Almost everything in the shop is exclusive to the whole state. If the lines are anywhere else in the state, it is in Scottsdale,” he said. Those shops tend to charge higher prices.
He settled on Man At Leisure as the store name after compiling a list of 100 possibilities. Then, he culled it down to 10 or 15. The yellow sign clinched it with focus groups, he said.
Before opening his brick and mortar store, he owned an Internet company. He liked working at home and misses his dog, Tiara, who used to stay by his side all day. Before that, he was a wholesale food buyer and prior to that, he ran shoe stores for a large corporation.
Sola, a New York transplant who still has the East Coast accent, formerly lived in Tucson. QCBN
To learn more, visit www.ManAtLeisure.com or call Sola at 928-776-4874.
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