This issue is filled with award winners. We have industry recognition we award each year at the convention. This year was no different and we have the proud recipients and a little about them. We also offer a great article from Bob Barry on ideas shared during his seminar by fellow IFA members. We offer a letter to use if you wish to promote homecoming business and more. Read on and let us know what you think editor@formaltimes.com

Black Tie Lifetime Achievement Award

Ramon and Rosa Comellas

Ramon & Rosa and their children

The Black Tie Lifetime Achievement award is intended to be awarded to an individual whose long standing commitment to the formalwear industry and their customer is unequalled. We look to acknowledge the type of individual whose operation maintains superior standards that determine the measure by which others are gauged. Our 2008 Black Tie Lifetime Achievement award winner is Ramon Comellas of Roseburg Oregon.

Ramon got his first start in the business over 50 years ago in a small town in Spain when he took a job as a tailor’s apprentice. From Spain his travels took him to San Palo, Brazil where he opened his own tailor shop and met his gracious wife Rosa. From there they moved to southern California and continued in the tailoring and men’s fine clothing business. Ramon and his family changed directions in 1974 selling the tailoring business and purchasing his first tuxedo store Westchester Tuxedos.

In 1981 the family decided they would like a different life than what California and men’s clothing offered and sold their store and moved north to Roseburg Oregon. They were in search of the “good life” and purchased an orchard to live and work a simpler life as they had dreamed. Fortunately for the rest of us formal wear has a way of getting into the blood and that life they had dreamed of was not what Rosa was looking for, so in 1985 they stepped back into the industry and opened their retail store Formally Yours, and the wholesale division Tuxedo Warehouse.

Today, Ramon and Rosa along with their children Robert and Rosana operate the single retail store and a 17,000sq ft production facility for their wholesale division. They are the most gracious friendly people you could ever hope to meet, and their delight in being honored in such a way was evident the entire evening. Ramon serenaded his wife with a beautiful native song and the family was surrounded by countless friends and well wishers all night. A strong sense of family and a quality commitment are so obvious you can not help but be drawn in. We congratulate the Comellas family on this achievement, and want them to know they have certainly met the qualifications for becoming a Black Tie Lifetime Achievement winner! We look forward to hearing more from them in the future.




Retailer of the Year

                                                                                      Bill, John, and Dan Zanstra

This award recognizes a formalwear specialist known for presenting formalwear in a professional and contemporary atmosphere. The winner is chosen by the manufacturers who visit the stores and warehouses of members all across the nation. They must maintain a fashion forward selection for today’s consumer and the very highest levels of commitment to the customer.

This years recipients start in our industry dates back 45 years ago when Jay and John Zanstra opened their first men’s clothing store in Indiana. In 1969 they acquired Dunhill Tuxedos and the business has grown to now 6 retail stores in Michigan and Indiana and a strong wholesale business.

The board of directors at Dunhill consists of brothers John and Dan Zanstra and their cousin Bill Zanstra. Our congratulations to all of the owners and employees of Dunhill Tuxedos for a fine example of integrity and commitment to our industry!

Chris Walter, Bill, Dan and John Zanstra

Manufacturer of the Year 

Kathleen Peskens and the After Six Group

The manufacturer of the Year is an award given to a company who serves our industry. The criteria for supplier of the year are:

A supplier member who exhibits exemplary standards.

A supplier who works to design and deliver a product to promote our industry.

A supplier who provides quality and innovation in formalwear.

A supplier who provides you the retailer the opportunity to profit in your business.

Votes were taken via the internet and tallied before the convention. Our 2008 Manufacturer of the Year is After Six. Under Kathleen Peskens watch After Six has worked hard over the last year to work to meet the above criteria. They had the best new tuxedo award last year in Nashville with the LaStrada. We send our deepest thanks for a job well designed and executed and look forward to seeing what the future will bring!


The After Six group and new CEO Eric Plott



Best New Tuxedo

Mark Marrow, Maurice Silva and Rod Benbrook

Maurice and the Illusion Coat

 
This award is voted on by convention attendees as they look at all of the new items being offered for Spring 2009. The Illusion by Jean Yves is a contemporary narrow edge lapel coat with a slightly shorter body length. The collar can be worn traditionally or turned up for an edgier appeal. The Illusion is available in black with white edged collar or white with a black edge. Congratulations to Maurice Silva and all at Jean Yves!



Best New Accessory

Jon Goldman, Jerry Parness & Doug Black

The Best new Accessory award is also voted on at the convention by everyone present. This year the Black Gold team along with designer Jerry Parness is presented with the award for their Newport vest line. The Newport is a plaid pattern with variegated shades to match multiple colors with one vest. Congratulations to the Black Gold!


Doug Black, Maurice Silva, Jerry Parness and
Jon Goldman and their award winners!


Expo coverage will continue next issue with the black tie reception, news about the Bride’s magazine seminar on the American wedding and more from Bob Barry. Here are a few more of the comments on the show:

Good Show! Thanks to all of you that had a hand in pulling this off.
The Las Vegas venue seems to offer such a wide range of enticements. Whether it's dining, gambling, tanning by the pools or just people watching, it has it all. I hope we can count on the next few expos in Las Vegas.
The show itself also was a success for Manne-King. The expo provides our annual face-to-face "Thank You" to all of our customers for their continued support. It's also an opportunity to showcase our new displays. We felt the IFA expo was a success in both categories.

We know there's room for improvement. But again I'd like to congratulate The IFA board from Rod Benbrook, Ken Pendley on through for having the courage and fortitude to initiate the revival of the IFA when so many others were ringing the death knell.

Long Live the IFA! See you all next year!

Thanks,

Mike Davis
Manne-King, Inc.

You and Diane, Ken, Rod and everyone with the IFA involved did a WONDERFUL job with this year’s show. I honestly didn’t know if this show was going to be a good one or not…what a nice surprise! I am going to be “singing the praises” of the IFA to the non-members who missed out. If there is anything you can provide me i.e. membership applications, handouts, etc., please send or email me the necessary forms and I’ll do my best to get more members while I’m traveling this fall.
It was disappointing that many of the SAVVI members didn’t participate or support the show but they had already seen the lines and probably didn’t see the value in attending. Maybe that will change in the future.
There was the usual lot of walking to (rooms, restaurants, etc) whenever you have it in a large facility as the Hilton, but it wasn’t all that inconvenient. I wish I would have had the free time to be able to walk around to the other suppliers at the show, but I was busy, which is a good thing!
The Black Tie Reception was outstanding. There was a lot of mingling at the event which was great. The awards show was good, but it was hard to hold the audience’s attention. Don’t know how that can be improved upon. Would it be better to do at a membership luncheon?
My only suggestion would be to arrange for a rolling lunch counter (lite fare and beverages) and break area that could have been set up for a couple of hours on each day of the shows. The attendees could have bought lunches right there in the Expo area. That might have kept customers closer to the action and saved them some walking back through the casinos to the limited lunch offerings at the hotel. If you did have this, I didn’t see it.
While Las Vegas is a nice attraction and it bumped up against MAGIC there are some other cities I hope you will consider for the future:
§ New Orleans (closer to the middle of the country and it might attach with SIFA)
§ St. Louis (America’s Center Convention facility) (middle of country and less expensive than Chicago-also a key airport for Southwest Airlines-cheaper fares). Lumeire Place (new) and lot’s of Riverboat casinos and hotels close by. http://www.explorestlouis.com/americasCenter/public.asp http://www.lumiereplace.com/home.aspx
§ San Antonio (great city for a smaller convention like IFA and lots of sightseeing-Alamo, Riverwalk, Mission Trail, etc.) http://www.riverwalkguide.com/
§ North Chicago (Lincolnshire Marriott Resort) http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chiln-lincolnshire-marriott-resort/ Easy flight into O’Hare-25 minutes away.
Once again, my thanks for all of your efforts. Great job!!! See you at GLITS!
Sincerely,


Tim Moore, Regional Representative
After Six Formalwear for Men
6 Foxmoor Place
Lebanon, IL 62254-1357


I feel as though it was certainly one of the better shows in recent years. Perhaps by keeping it in Las Vegas and establishing a base will only make it better.

Ken Hall
FCGI

Regional Show Information!!

Attention Specialists

Announcement is Made of 3 IFA Regional Shows
The International Formalwear Association announces three Regional Shows for September. All three shows will be on Sunday and Monday. Take advantage of this opportunity to get another look at what is offered for Spring 09. If you plan to stay over make reservations with information below. All of these hotels include a full breakfast and cocktail hour daily. Hope to see you there!

East Coast
When: September 14th and 15th
Where: Embassy Suites Piscataway/Sommerset 121 Centennial Avenue Piscataway NJ
Contact: Adriana
Phone: 732-980-0500 Room block under International Formalwear Association
Rates: Saturday $135 Sun or Mon $145 single or double

GLITS/Midwest
When: September 21 & 22
Where: Embassy Suites Oakbrook/Lombard 707 Butterfield Road Oakbrook Illinois
Contact: Cynthia McDonald cynthia.mcdonald@hilton.com
Phone: 630-969-7500 Room block under GLITS Tuxedo Show/IFA
Rates: $139 King $169 Double

West Coast
When: September 28th & 29th
Where: Radisson Suites Hotel 7762 Beach Blvd. Buena Park, Ca, 90620
Contact: Meredith Delfosse
Phone: (888) 201-1718 or (714)739-5600
Rates: $115 King or Double Room Block under Western States Formalwear Collective by the IFA


Hours for ALL shows are Sunday 9-6 and Monday 9-5. There is no cost for buyers to attend these shows, but we need RSVP information NOW via fax or email to the numbers below.

Fax info on back of this page to 309-342-5921
Becky email: editor@formaltimes.com Diane email: atuxforu2@hotmail.com
Becky phone: 309-236-7940 Diane phone: 309-721-5450




Fax information to 309-342-5921
Show attending________________________________________________
Company name_____________________________
Contact person______________________________
Address_____________________________________________________________
Phone______________________________________
Email______________________________________
Number attending ___________
Names of those attending for name badges
_____________________________________________________________

Fax RSVP prior to show for badge information.



Homecoming Letter
Many of our members have a distinct advantage at this time of year to promote their store and get great prom reps for next spring. One of the ideas that have worked well in the past is to offer free or deeply discounted rates to the homecoming court specifically senior king candidates. Use company letterhead and copy and paste the letter inserting your store information and hours then mail to your local high schools. It is done in Times New Roman as a word document so it can easily be altered. Good luck and I hope this is a value to you.


Administrative Staff:

Homecoming Committee:

I am writing on behalf of ????? Formalwear concerning your upcoming homecoming celebrations. We would like to extend an offer to have your senior king candidates stand out during the event. ????? Formalwear would like to offer free tuxedos to each of the senior boys on homecoming court!

Standing out among his piers dressed formally in a tuxedo can only increase the honor of being chosen by the student body to be a member of the court. Formal wear denotes a special occasion, and being elected to the court certainly is a memorable moment in a student’s life. Being formally dressed for the circumstance can only enhance this in his mind and in pictures for years to come!

The senior king candidates may choose any in stock rental tuxedo of their choice at no charge. The rental includes vest, tie and shoes of choice. Any retail items would need to be purchased (hats, canes etc.) Any high school student who is attending homecoming may rent men’s formalwear at a reduced rate. ???????

To take advantage of this offer just fax in your homecoming senior king candidate list to ????? Formal Wear and ask the guys to be fitted at least a week in advance of the event for the free rental.

????? Formal Wear fax number: ???-???-??

We appreciate your attention to this letter and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,


?????? ??????
Manager/Owner
????? Formal Wear



FROM: BOB BARRY
JOHN BARRY & ASSOCIATES

RE: IFA IDEAS

Bob Barry and the JBA team are so excited to be a part of the New IFA! We wish to thank Diane and the IFA team for their wonderful effort.

Please find below a few additional JBA ideas as well as ideas that attendees shared following JBA’s seminar. As we look back over the last 30 plus years we see that some of the best ideas and greatest value that each IFA member enjoys comes from other proactive members. Our hope is that the NEW IFA will stimulate great new ideas and great value to the membership.

 Map of Backroom: Develop a map of your backroom layout showing the position where you stock your tuxedos and accessories. This can assist in educating your team members. You might also give a test to your team members to speed the knowledge transfer.
 Listening: Listen carefully to your current team members’ evaluation of any new employee. Their feedback can be quite revealing.
 Training New Employees: Utilize your team members to train your new staff. Leverage the best practices of the current team members. For example, one of your team members might be outstanding in measurement and someone else might be great at retail sales, etc.
 Weddings Are Everywhere: Carry your business cards and find out who is getting married at your favorite restaurants, women’s clothing stores, barber shops, beauty salons, etc.
 Grandfathers: “Do you have any Grandfathers attending the wedding?” Sell the feeling and sell the importance of the wedding pictures for generations to come.
 Encourage Communication: Consider wearing a gold bow tie lapel pin or for women an oversized engagement ring pendent to encourage communication about your wonderful wedding business wherever you shop or travel.
 Allied Firms: Have a goal to meet and get to know every company owner and their team members from the companies that show at your bridal shows.
 Calling All Brides: Call every bride in your city. Initially this may seem overwhelming but this is good to know that some tuxedo companies have called as many as 70% of all brides in large cities that they serve.
 Prom T-Shirts: Take a new look at prom t-shirts. If you do implement this program and go with high quality shirts that will be worn for years to come.


JBA will be working with the IFA on the focus of continuous improvement and continuous education. Please contact Bob Barry at 949-675-3551 with any special topics of interest or to share your new ideas that can help all IFA members.




Industry News
Update on Sal Saputo of New Orleans and hurricane Gustav:

HI BECKY.
THANKS FOR ASKING, WE DODGED A BIG BULLET VERY LITTLE DAMAGE BUT WE WERE CLOSED FOR A WEEK AND IT DISRUPTED TWO WEEK-ENDS OF WEDDINGS. BRIDES ARE NOW TRYING TO BOOK NEW DATES FOR HALLS AND CHURCHES. WE WENT TO HOT SPRINGS AR. VERY NICE TOWN BUT IT TOOK 15 HOURS TO GET THERE 6 MORE THAN USUAL. OVER A MILLION AND A HALF OF PEOPLE WERE ON THE ROAD AT THE SAME TIME. THE STORM WEAKENED RIGHT BEFORE IT STRUCK LAND SAVING US. THEY PREDICTED 8 FEET OF WATER IN MY STORE BUT THERE WAS NONE THANK GOD. I WAS GOING TO OPEN SHOP IN HOT SPRINGS IF I WAS FLOODED OUT AGAIN I CAN'T EVACUATE EVERY YEAR

ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL SAL OF J & L NEW ORLEANS



Send your industry news: store openings, promotions, births, marriages, deaths, all industry human interest news to George Kosack Sr of Joliet IL. George has had just this type of column in the former printed version of the IFA newsletter for years. He is happy to hear about all your news good and bad and we would like to again give him the chance to add to this newsletter at georgesr@kosacks.com

Wants and Offerings

For Sale Columbia TD Mach 2 Dry Cleaning Machine 55 LB. This is the Quick Dri Series. Machine made in 2002 in excellent condition

Any questions call Marty 716-994=1449 or marty@martysformalwear.com

Job Position Available

Thoughts for the Week
Perhaps we're too embarrassed to change or too frightened of the consequences of showing that we actually care. But why not risk it anyway? Begin today. Carry out a random act of seemingly senseless kindness, with no expectation of reward or punishment, safe in the knowledge that one day, someone somewhere might do the same for you.
~Lady Diana Frances Spencer~