Date Published: April 2, 2006

A Perfect Fit

Sumter clothier Stanley Welch puts premium on customer loyalty

March 14, 1981, is the day Stanley Welch realized his dream — and he's been working hard for the last 25 years to keep that dream alive.

When he opened Stanley Welch Clothiers on Guignard Drive that year, he wanted it to be unique and different, he said.

"I knew I'd be a destination store," Welch said, "regardless of where I was. It's like my grandfather always told me when I was growing up: He said, 'Look here, it doesn't matter what you do or where you put anything. It ain't the land, it's the man.'"

If you work hard, you can "make it happen no matter where you put it," Welch said.

Welch grew up in Sumter, and grew up in the clothing business.

"My mother (Corrine) was in the children's (clothing) business for 39 years here in Sumter," he said, as owner of The Children's Shop.

Welch graduated high school in 1970 and attended what is now Charleston Southern University, graduating in 1974 with a degree in business management. Following graduation, "I decided, I'd been working in the clothing business — I worked at the Capital Department Store (owned by the Brody family on Main Street) all through high school, so I went straight to Columbia, and Abram Brody was instrumental in getting me a job at Lourie's in Columbia."

He managed the men's clothing retailer's location at Columbia Mall for six years, and is still close to the Brody family, he said. "They treated me like a son, they're like family." Welch gave them what he referred to as a "two-year notice, and said, 'I'm going back home.'"

Always one to heed sage wisdom, Welch said that when he was on the verge of opening his shop, "I can remember when I told my dad when I was getting ready to do it, I said, 'How much money do you think I'll need?' and he looked at me and said, 'It won't make any difference. It'll eat all you feed it.'"

/ The Item

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