More than just a new suit!

 

Classic view of Salisbury from the racecourse

We recently spent a few days in the lovely cathedral city of Salisbury, primarily to visit the races for my part and for my wife, a trip to the shops with new outfits to be perused and purchased. The days racing was as good as ever and I can thoroughly recommend a visit to Salisbury racetrack, a small regional course but with bags of character and good quality flat racing. The day at the shops promised less interest for me but this is where my next blog begins.....

After an arduous morning of my wife trying on various outfits only relieved by a short Costa stop, lunchtime was fast approaching so I felt being in the heart of Badger Ales country, it was time to search out a decent pint of Tanglefoot. This is a classic beer and those that know their regional brewers will appreciate finding a perfectly served Tanglefoot is quite a treat. I was in luck, the New Inn was just around the corner and the beer was very good. Once refreshed we ventured out and that's where we discovered Regent Tailoring and the subject of my blog.

Regent Tailoring shop window

An exquisite gentleman's and ladies tailors with its focus on classic British clothing, this was a shop for me. We met the owner, Jason Regent whose grandfather was butler to Ian Fleming, writer of the iconic James Bond novels. Jason clearly has a passion for the 1960's, and quality tailoring, but he is also wise enough to realise his business will do better by looking outside of clothing sales alone, so he is branching out and has launched the Regent Liquor Club.

The shop itself is on three floors and made up of numerous small rooms with many terrific tailoring treasures to be unearthed as well as some gems of other items you would not expect to find in a normal clothes retailer. The business targets an affluent customer with style and taste, but also a customer that is ready made for the craft gin, rum and beer market, as well as some exclusive wines. It struck me what a good idea this was because although his customers are not huge in number, they do spend time in the shop, so up-selling into areas of interest that are not just focused on clothing makes sense. He does not need to carry a huge range, just enough to make it interesting with brands that are either exclusive, local or not available in the major retailers in the city.

The cost is just a premises license, the marketing of the club and the stock, so potentially a low risk venture assuming he does not over order with stock. I'm sure it will take time to get the liquor offer up and running but in terms of thinking out of the box and trying to grow his business in other ways, it seems a good idea.

As for the beers on offer, these were limited to the one brewer at my time of the visit, Downton Brewery, a local brewer. Jason gave me a bottle of the New Forest Ale to try, which was a robust 4% bitter and easy to drink. Showcasing local beers that are not easily available is a solid starting offer, so long as the beers are good and consistent. In time, as his reputation for craft and distinctive liquor builds he might be able to grow into offering some of the more eclectic craft beers from further afield.

Good luck to him, both for the main business of clothing and the liquor venture. As for me, I did make a few purchases on the day, a classic waistcoat made from material that Jason had discovered from the 1960's and a couple of cigars to enjoy as a treat. As we tend to go racing at Salisbury each year, I will at least have one shop to look forward to visiting as well.

For anyone interested in Regent Tailoring or the racecourse the links are below:

http://www.regenttailoring.co.uk/
http://www.salisburyracecourse.co.uk/salisburyracecourse.html