Some fashions never go out of style – just like Slater Menswear.
After all, this family-owned and run business is celebrating its golden anniversary this year and has spent 30 of those 50 years right here in Aberdeen.
We caught up with Ryan Munro, assistant branch manager at Slater Menswear on Bon Accord Street, to find out how they keep the good people of Aberdeen looking sharp and what their hopes are for the next 50 years.
Tell us about Slater Menswear Aberdeen
We’re a family-run and family-owned company and, on a pleasant note, we celebrate 50 years as a company this year and 30 years in Aberdeen. We like to consider ourselves quite a well-established household name in terms of menswear.
We accommodate not just suits, but more casual offerings as well in a huge variety of sizes. Not only do we have boys’ wear and kids’ suits, we do suiting from a 34 inch chest to a 66, so we can accommodate a huge variety of sizes that regular High Street shops may not be able to.
Ryan Munro and the team at Slater Menswear Aberdeen are on hand to keep customers looking good. Image - Aberdeen Inspired
What do you like about being based in the City Centre?
For me, Aberdeen has quite a community feel for a big city. It’s quite small in nature in terms of how you can get around the city and with that you tend to know quite a lot of people within the city.
Rarely a day goes by that you don’t see a familiar face come through the door. That’s quite pleasant in terms of engaging with the customer and just engaging with people.
What are the benefits for you and Slater Menswear in being an Aberdeen Inspired levy payer?
I attended my first business meeting with Aberdeen Inspired just a few weeks ago and it provided quite a lot of insight as to the masterplan for the city, and it gave a lot of insight as to what’s going on and what’s coming in the future.
Aberdeen Inspired organising these meetings brings stakeholders together and gives them as much information as possible about what is being planned and organised by the council or by Aberdeen Inspired. By getting that information to the stakeholders and getting them involved early, it ensures these plans fit the needs of everyone and the city.
Ryan Munro says being in the city centre means familiar faces call in almost every day. Image - Aberdeen Inspired
What are your plans for the next 12 months?
Hopefully to continue being as busy as we have been post-Covid. We’ve experienced quite a surge of interest in formalwear, post the pandemic restriction.
People are now desperate to dress nicely for events and to get back out and get socialising again.
Hopefully, we will continue to enjoy our customers’ loyalty and we will be back to business as normal regards a yearly basis. But right now we are enjoying a bit of an Indian summer with people wanting to be fashionably and well-dressed, which will hopefully continue.
What advice would you give to new businesses looking to set up in the city centre?
To really know what your target market is, as there are a lot of unknowns when you are opening a new business.
But also to engage with those businesses who are your nearest neighbours and also throughout the city. We are all looking to help push other businesses onward.
If there’s something we can’t accommodate when a customer comes in, we like to be able to say try Signature or try Georgian Dress Hire or one of these other businesses in the city. The best way to flourish as a business is to have co-operation and other businesses helping you out.
From Highlandwear to smart suits and casual wear, Slater Menswear meets customers' needs, says Ryan Munro. Image - Aberdeen Inspired
What would be the biggest improvement to the city centre in your opinion?
I think trying to fill the Union Street units would be good, to get a bit of life back to Union Street. We lost some shops like John Lewis and Debenhams, department stores which are a difficult gap to fill because they offered people variety and options.
But if we can see variety and options brought back into these empty units, that would be good.
And hopefully the new Aberdeen Market will be something pulls in a lot of smaller businesses – even if just on a pop-up basis. I think that would give a bit of diversity to Union Street.
When you’re not working where is your favourite place or thing to do in Aberdeen?
On my days off you’ll always find me on the golf course. I’m a member at Murcar and play quite regularly.
Aberdeen city centre has a fantastic nightlife in terms of pubs and bars, there’s such a variety especially around where we are based here at Slater Menswear
You can find out more about Slater Menswear Aberdeen here.
Ryan Munro says businesses working together is the way to ensure everyone flourishes. Image - Aberdeen Inspired.