Junaid Ansari, Co-Founder of Burrows & Hare / Men's Clothing Store

Join us on this episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast as we sit down with Junaid Ansari, Co-Founder of Burrows & Hare. Discover the captivating journey of this family multi-brand business, which first took root in Oxford in 2015. Junaid shares the essence of their brand, where every item is meticulously designed and crafted for the discerning gentleman of today. With a commitment to timeless style and superior craftsmanship, Burrows & Hare embraces a philosophy of "buy less but buy better quality goods." By opting for skilled artisans and sustainable materials, they champion a higher standard of product that honors both the wearer and the environment. We delve into various topics, including the early reception of their newly opened Marlow store, the joys and challenges of working with family, innovative strategies to attract customers, the power of social media, and exciting plans for a skincare and shaving line. Tune in to gain valuable insights from a brand that epitomizes the fusion of heritage and modernity.

Transcript

PB: 0:11

Hello welcome back to another episode of the menswear style podcast. I'm your host Pete Brooker and today on the show I am talking to Junaid and sorry he is the MD over a Burroughs and hair and that's h a r e hair, burrows and hair, men's lifestyle and grooming for a new generation of discerning gentleman. Their vision for every item is that it be beautifully crafted, built to last and live organically with those who wear it and within its environment. They're based down in Oxford they've also just opened up a new store in Marlow and I really did enjoy talking to Junaid he's got a great attitude when it comes to making bricks and mortar work but he's also not ignoring driving online business, e commerce leveraging social media and to talk all about that and more here is Junaid and sorry,

Unknown: 0:57

we're a small brand kind of started off in Oxford, Menswear. We like to think of ourselves as quite timeless, to have a timeless aesthetic within our collection. And what we do, we just focus on good product, you know, we're not looking for things that are in one season out the next, we're just looking for that kind of timeless, classic, well made product, that people just would love to have it

PB: 1:20

you know, and so you kind of a portfolio company, you're an independent, you have your mentioning of Mike, you're a family run business, and you've got other brands, but you also have your own name on the label. So you also do your own products, right? Yeah.

Unknown: 1:32

So we work quite hard on our own brand. Growing it organically, you know, when when the time dictates, shall we say because we're so busy. But yeah, we're, we started off as a multi brand offering, we're still a multi brand offering as well. We stopped kind of like minded brands, if you want to put it that way. So brands who really just specialise in what they do unique pieces, good fabrication made really well,

PB: 1:57

you know, and how do you vet the brands? I mean, you've how many brands have you got on your books?

Unknown: 2:02

Right? That's a bit of a difficult question, really, in terms of the number of brands, I'd say we've got quite a few on the books, at least 15 Maybe 20 brands, but we're just picking what we like from these brands, you know, their specialities. They do great collections, our vast collection some of these guys but we just like to pick what's right for us and sits well in our stores really, because predominantly, we're a bricks and mortar retailer, that's how we've started when we started our business. That's the bread and butter of the business as opposed to online. Which works well for us. We we love facing customers, you know, dealing with customers on a daily basis hearing directly from them, the interaction, everything that comes with bricks and mortar retail, it's all part of the fun. So having said that, you know, multi brand offering is good, but we focus on own brand as well. Just to offer a little bit something a little bit different.

PB: 2:58

So just dial it back for us a little bit Junaid Yeah, when did you open the very first store down there in Oxford,

Unknown: 3:04

very first store. This was opened in 2015. Just towards the end of summer, to be fair, so it was sort of July August time that we opened up in this really, really amazing little independent area in the city centre of Oxford, the cupboard market, which was really nice to be part of that kind of history and heritage of such a great place. And it worked really well for us.

PB: 3:26

And do you have like a core audience down there? Is it is it students I mean, what sort of people come into your store what they're looking for?

Unknown: 3:34

It's quite funny actually. Starting off in Oxford, people would always assume you have a huge student following but essentially, it's a bit more of an aspirational price point for a student with that being said, you know, they can start to buy into the store, but they probably wouldn't come in and they're not the bulk of the customer. I think a lot of the locals from Oxford City itself and the surrounding areas have been a good base of our customer profile. But you know, with that being said, you know, we sell we serve the student population pretty well. With our product range is quite vast, you know, it's not just clothing, we do accessories, we do bags, you know, we do skincare grooming. So there's always something to buy into, and stationary course what students station

PB: 4:20

without. And you've just opened up a second shop now just in Marlow. So how are you? How old is that shop? And how's it going?

Unknown: 4:29

This is coming up to six months here in Marlow. Five to six months, I should say. And this is this is going well. We've is going as expected. So we've come from humble beginnings in the cupboard market with a small shop, similar to the size of what we're in Marlow, you know and the footfall is very similar to Marlo in that respect where it's it's steady. It's nothing huge that people aren't coming in the masses. But we find that the right people are coming through the doors, people who are interested in Again, we've had a great reaction so far. So yeah, I really look forward to the rest of the year here.

PB: 5:05

As I mentioned off, Mike have ran an independent fashion store in my time. And if people were playing the drinking game at home, they always have to have a swig when I mentioned that, because it does come up in every other show. But the reason why I mentioned is because we had a lease on the building in Cambridge, but it was in Cambridge shear, so it was way out in the sticks. So we just treated the building like a warehouse with a shop floor. Basically, we knew we weren't going to get a lot of footfall. But on the flip side, we knew that we could save money in the company and just have a showcase room and basically drive it as an E commerce site. Do you have that kind of angle where you're looking to mainly drive it as E commerce are you kind of thinking this could be more of an empire where you open up more bricks and mortar.

Unknown: 5:51

Preferably, you know, in an ideal world, we'd like the best of both. But our kind of foundation lies in bricks and mortar retail, we're not ignoring the E commerce side of things and the online side of things. That's our shop to the world, essentially, for bricks and mortar. That's where that's our foundations. We like that experience. We like to decorate the shops, you know, make them look nice, give you that experience, and that feel you've walked into somewhere special unit backed by something special. I mean, with that being said, we've picked up drapers awards as well, for best shops that this was in 2019.

PB: 6:28

And who's doing the shop here? are you designing these? Or are you getting other people and

Unknown: 6:31

everything that we do is in house? So yeah, like I said, we're a family run business. Our team has stuck around with us from the very beginning as well, we've had new additions, and they're all great, they stick around for a long time. But we all work really hard. But when it comes down to the design here that will

PB: 6:46

go in house and you say family, that you and your brother that are kind of the main heads of the company.

Unknown: 6:53

We are yet but we're the second generation. So he's been in the business. He's been there done that. semi retired, we dragged him out of retirement for a little bit of help. But yeah, so that's where we kind of get our inspiration from, you know, so yeah, I always say to customers, as well, we're second generation retailers, we really love the bricks and mortar. And that's the way we're going to continue.

PB: 7:18

Yeah. Being brought out of retirement to help with your son's clothing business isn't as sexy as you normally hear it in the movies where someone's been brought out of retirement for one last assignment. He never really retired, he never did.

Unknown: 7:33

Yeah, he's always working, he's always busy, you can never you can never keep him down. As much as you tell him to kind of rest and whatever. You can never keep him down. He loves it. It's, it's a labour of love. And that's kind of trickled down to us. We love what we do. We enjoy what we do. And I think that kind of comes across to the customers their experience in store and our product range. Ideas. You know, we always asking customers, what, what are you looking for? How can we improve? You know? So we really engage it was

PB: 8:01

your dad, was he a tailor? He was a retailer, near the retail, okay, so he knows the business.

Unknown: 8:06

He knows the business. He knows the business. He was he started off in the 1980s when times are good, you know, when, when there were very few kind of high end, retailers, again, Oxford, and yet people coming from all over before the internet. So that was interesting. The times were different. They weren't as tough for retailers as they are now. You know, we have a lot of hurdles now that they didn't have back then. But that's all part of the fun, you know?

PB: 8:35

And do you know you live with me I know of like I say from running an independent store. I lived above the fashion shop, when for about three years. And because it wasn't kitted out with the immediate ease of being a home, we that there was no shower, basically, there was no kitchen, I basically slipped in the stock room with all the mannequins and the boxes. So I can I can see like the unsexy side of the business as it were, I imagine there must be some bootstrapping, when it's just a small knit run business, you got a family and stuff like that. So perhaps talk to me about the obstacles that you face and, and how you kind of trying to streamline the business and keep the fat off.

Unknown: 9:15

Essentially, you must always have a good work ethic, you have to be prepared to do everything yourself, where you kind of introduced me at the beginning of the show was everything like we have to do everything we have to take the bins out you have to serve the customers, you have to develop products, you have to source you know you have to merchandise you have to look how you can grow the business, different channels, etc. So you really have to have a good work ethic, you have to be ready to do everything. But I think if you have the thinking that, you know, this is something that you would love to do. There's nothing else that you'd rather be doing. Then of course, you're gonna throw yourself into it. And you really kind of you take it on and there's something to get your teeth into. Well, I wouldn't say it's kind of unsexy. There's a there's a few things that are There's no really any hurdles, really, that will stop you from getting into bricks and mortar retail, I think a lot of the time you can hear things, you know, it's hard out on the high street, etc, etc. Providing you're willing to work hard, I don't think there's a many obstacles that are gonna stop you from that.

PB: 10:17

I mean, I treated it like working behind the bar, because I've also lived and worked and lived in pubs before. And you get to realise that it becomes a way of life rather than a nine to five, right? So what you don't see when you come in and buy a pint is that guy might have been up since two o'clock in the morning, cleaning the lines, and he's there shutting up after 11, you know, cleaning up after everyone's gone. You know, nothing is like fits in between normal work hours. And I imagine running a business like yours. That applies as well.

Unknown: 10:47

Yeah, definitely, definitely. But at the same time, you can add to the theatre for the customers, you know, that whole kind of action of what's going on in store, I'll give you an example. We'll have swatches arriving in store. And then you know, the best place and time for us to get together to make decisions on products and future fabrics that we're going to use across shirts, jackets, trousers, wherever they are, you know, we'll have swatches laid out all over the table. And then people will come in and you know, there'll be intrigued you know what's going on here to be interested, you know what you choosing that for all that's really nice, you're going to be using it for next winter or next spring or whatever. It just adds a bit of theatre to the place, but at the same time, there's things that you really need to get done. But yeah, that's interesting, because

PB: 11:26

it's all on show, right? So when it arrives, it's not like it goes to a what I presume it doesn't go to a warehouse and another HQ, and there's a million of a heads all involved. It's kind of happening there. And then so you have to be there. And that attracts attention.

Unknown: 11:38

That's it. That's it. And I think you'll find that in a lot of businesses and small brands, you know, where they do everything. There's always something going on the theatre in store is it's always exciting.

PB: 11:50

Outside of that, have you thought about putting any other experiences in the shop, like, you know, introducing, like coffee or any kind of yoga classes, you know, those sorts of things that can kind of produce a little bit extra to the customer?

Unknown: 12:03

Well, yeah, that's, that's exactly to be fair. Yes, is the short answer. And there's things that we've done in the past, we've had events, you know, we've had, in our talk specifically about Oxford, for example, we've we've worked with local kind of coffee roasters, and they've come in and we've had a nice little day or two over the weekend, you know, with the customers getting free coffee in the store, it drags in a bit of a crowd. It's something interesting, it's something new. That's just one element of it. I mean, we've got, again, a local barber coming in to store just to kind of show wet shave the experience, I mean, we sell the product, it would be crazy not to tell our customers how to use it, in the best way possible. We've worked with shoe shiners in the past, you know, is it's quite a niche market in some respects, but in others is a whole wide world of experience. That's readily available for customers. Yeah,

PB: 12:56

I guess that's, well, that's true. If you've got a variety of different products that you're selling, you can open up the lifestyle that's associated to that product, as opposed to if you're just maybe selling shoes, and you kind of cornered into what you can do. Can you talk about the social media element? Because I'm interested to know as you guys are like one man, that doesn't make sense, but one men bands? Like, yeah, someone's got to pay attention to what's happening on your social channels. How do you how do you kind of make sure that the quality is up to scratch?

Unknown: 13:26

I think we we've been quite fortunate with the guys that we work with, within our team. Over the years, you know, they've got specialities that kind of lend themselves to well, going over into social media when it comes to like photography, content writing. And that's kind of all gelled together quite nicely. It's something that we've now started to focus on more so kind of post pandemic, obvious reasons. But I think yeah, it's just kind of reach out a little bit further, because we've got such a well established based as a, as a kind of bricks and mortar store, it'd be nice to kind of spread that experience across online as well. And just reach out to people. So yeah, we've started to focus a bit more on Facebook, on Instagram, and other channels as well.

PB: 14:15

Is there one that's working better for you than anything else?

Unknown: 14:18

I'd say Facebook and Instagram probably work equally as well as each other. More so than tick tock for us. I know it's great for some people, and not knocking it at all, but for our customers, maybe not so much

PB: 14:32

just yet. But and we've Instagram, is there one head that kind of oversees everything. And the reason why I ask it's a bit of a loaded question, but I used to work for a tailor down in Shoreditch. And they were like a group of us that all had the logins for Instagram, and everyone kind of did their own thing posted their own stuff. And each time I would post stuff, he'd pull me aside and go pete this crap. I'd find my post deleted and I'm like, Well, hold on a minute that that looks really cool, but it's quite hard some of the time And when, when it's not just one person vetting the whole thing, when there's lots of different heads involved in one vision for the channel, do you ever find out or are your minds all synched up?

Unknown: 15:10

Well, to be fair, as they say, too many chefs in the kitchen and all that? Yeah, no, we have a set team, three people, and they'll kind of deal with it, you know, between themselves, and they'll come to a decision and post all the content. We'll have our photographer kind of taking all the pictures in house, creating the content, essentially, just giving a huge image bank to us to the other guys will then decide on the post and the writing underneath and everything, descriptions,

PB: 15:38

Instagram, by the way, Burroughs and hair, it's a place we can check out the shots because the image is really strong. But yeah, I guess that's probably the way to do it is just have a set team and then drill it down to a couple of people. Talk to me about the what's in store for you guys, now that you've just opened up the new store down there, what plans have you got for the rest of the year, anything else on the horizon,

Unknown: 16:00

there's always plans, there's always ideas, it's just getting them out there. You know, there's, there's loads of ideas, tonnes of factors. But essentially, what we want to do is just narrow it down to organic growth in everything that we do, you know, introduce things when time is right, for our customers. So it's important that we don't rush. And when we present it on the shelves, is what we would consider, you know, a one product top product. So I think for us, we're going to really focus on our grooming and shaving range moving forward. We have really strong categories that were never, but we don't want to kind of drop off a cliff, you know, we want to really carry on focusing on those really working hard, and those are just adding. So yeah, the additions this year, I think will be kind of the shaving line, the grooming skincare range. That'd be quite interesting.

PB: 16:50

It's interesting that you've got like an engaged audience that come to you. And I wonder if that's down to a few things. Basically, having a community where more people there and the more people that come in and share these experiences with you, the more you can nurture and foster those relationships. But then, what about the online community? Do you feel like there's people online that you regularly speak to or there's like an audience that you regularly engage with online versus in person?

Unknown: 17:15

To be fair, it's a very much similar customer base online, as it is in stores are the people that we see coming in store, for example, creatives, people who are very successful in their fields? Students, everybody upwards, you know. And there's a similar offering online, it's just a matter of finding the same type of person really, on a larger scale, because there's plenty of people out there that are kind of warming to what we do they really like what we do. Engage with us our content, our product, and why

PB: 17:47

not the place to go by the way the website borrows and hair.co.uk hair spelled h a r e and we'll put all the links over on the show notes. did a really great talking to you. Thanks for jumping on and talking about the brand. And next time I'm down that way I'll certainly drop by and how do people get to Marlo? What's the best way if you're a Londoner?

Unknown: 18:06

If you're a Londoner? You should already know how to get tomorrow.

PB: 18:09

I'm asking for other people you know that? Don't know.

Unknown: 18:13

Of course of course. Am Corty towards Oxford. And then yeah, you'll see signs tomorrow you veer off lovely part of the world. The sun will come out as soon as you hit the dual carriageway on where tomorrow. And then we'll bring you here top of the High Street.

PB: 18:25

Nice. All right, well, we will look out for that. It's not so because you have the temps. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I never did do much at geography of school, so don't worry about me, but you know, stay on the line I've got you're in good place you're in a good place. So I can get it all out and posted. Junaid stay on the line. I'm just going to end this recording but I've got a funny story. I want to tell you quick before you go about Oxford. I think it's just come to mind. Last time I was there but for now I'll hit pause Junaid thanks so much for jumping on and I'll speak to you soon you've been listening to the menswear style podcast be sure to head over to menswear style dot code at uk for more menswear content and email info at menswear style.co.uk If you'd like to be a future guest on the show. Finally, please help support the show by leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time