STRAP
Cheryl Taylor, Editor, talks to Tom Vater, of Blooms Menswear, Wolverhampton. Q&A:
Name: Tom Vater Shop: Blooms Menswear
Brands: Barker, Ben Sherman, Chatham Marine, Delicious Junction, Front, Goodwyn Smith, Goor, Ikon, John White, Loake, Pantofola D’Oro, Paul O’Donnell, Roamers, Sergio Dulletti, TredFlex.
Home town: Wolverhampton
Family: Sue (Wife), Danielle (Daughter), Harvey (Golden Lab Dog).
How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? When I started at Blooms Menswear in 1981, we only sold men’s trousers but over time our product lines expanded and it was a natural progression into footwear from general menswear.
38 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • JANUARY 2019
Where are your premises located and how many people do you employ? Do you have a high turnover of staff? Tell us about your shop, the local area, your customers and their requirements? Our shop started at number 21 Darlington Street in Wolverhampton in the early 1950s. Since 1981 we’ve been blessed to have expanded to numbers 20 and 19 too. We’re just a bit further down on Darlington Street from the iconic Beatties department store in Wolverhampton town centre. At Blooms we believe that a gentleman deserves to feel great in his
clothes and fancy in his footwear. Whatever your preferred choice for fit, style, and taste may be you'll find shoes or boots to suit your needs. Our wide range of formal footwear and casual leisure shoes are available from sizes from E fit to GX in sizes 6 – 14. For over 60 years Blooms Menswear has been selling great quality
menswear. Over the years we've built up a strong reputation offering good value for money, a wide choice of footwear and clothing, and high level of customer service. This is why our customers have come back to us time and time again. The team at Blooms has also slowly expanded over the years and we
now employ just over 20 full-time staff, including a menswear sales team that serve on the shop floor, wedding and formal suit hire specialists, made to measure suit specialists, on-site tailors that carry out clothing alterations and repairs, a dedicated ecommerce and marketing manager that looks after our web presence, as well as a small team of managers and accounts staff. We’re a real family business and many of the staff have been with us a good number of years. One is now retired after having worked at Blooms for 35 years. One member of staff has been employed at Blooms Menswear for 27 years another 5 employees have each been here for over 15 years. Most of the team have been at Blooms between 3 – 5 years.
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