Treating You Like Family
For 50 years, Red Bank-based fashion retailer Garmany has thrived on providing a first-class customer experience.
At the half-century mark maybe it looks easy, but it wasn’t. Since Larry Garmany founded his first store in New York City in November 1974, recessions, a pandemic and ever-changing trends and tastes have shaken up the fashion industry, sending its less committed entrants packing. But Garmany has stayed true to its founder’s goal: providing the world’s finest fashion in a customer-focused environment.
“Even at a young age, he loved fashion and had great style,” recalls Johnell Garmany, Larry’s son and the owner of the current store in Red Bank. Larry introduced shoppers to luxurious clothing from Italy and France, showing styles and fabrics many here had never seen before. He always spent time with customers, explaining the materials and construction techniques that artisans used to put the garments together. “He made sure to share everything he knew about the clothing with everyone else,” Johnell says.
Customers took note of Larry’s commitment to them, and they trusted not only that he stood behind the products he sold, but also that he would find the best pieces for every individual. It wasn’t long before the demand for fine clothing and customer-focused service outgrew the first store, so Larry and his best friend opened another shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Soon after, Larry opened another store on his own in Manhattan, and then one in Summit, N.J.
While his dad was building the brand, Johnell was developing the same eye and passion for fashion. “I started early and always loved clothing and dressing well,” he says. In fact, finding time amid school, sports and extracurricular activities, he often traveled with Larry into the city to work at the stores.
Business permanently shifted from New York City to New Jersey in 1989, when Larry moved his family and opened the Red Bank store. Now a men’s and women’s clothing retailer, the shop was the first of its kind in town. At the time, Red Bank was struggling economically, and business was slow at Garmany.
“We didn’t sell anything in our first 11 days,” Johnell recalls. “We used to mess up the store so it looked busy. But once word got out and customers caught on to the quality of our service and the clothing, everything took off.”
“Everything” included Red Bank itself. More businesses followed Garmany into town, and Red Bank began to flourish. The mayor during those years even credited Larry and the store for the town’s economic turnaround.
“He was the driving force behind so much—the business, the town, family,” Johnell says. “He taught me more than just fashion: to pay attention to everyone’s needs, never to push someone, to do your best to make others happy.”
Fifty years after its founding and almost a decade since Larry’s passing, Garmany still reflects all of those virtues. Following Larry’s example, the staff is on hand to help the customer, never to push a sale.
“Shopping here is an experience, and the foundation of that experience is the way we treat people,” says Johnell. “We’re family owned and family operated, and we treat everyone—customers, staff and partners—like family. Those are things my dad preached, and we continue that today. It makes coming to the store fun. We get to see people we love, and see their families grow. Everyone becomes friends and family.”
The people at Wainscot Media, publisher of Monmouth, also have the honor of producing the store’s magazine, Garmany, and from long experience can vouch for this retailer’s “family” approach to business relationships.
