By Ken Mammarella
Leonard Simon tears up talking about rioting after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
His father had called from Las Vegas and asked him to drive from his University of Delaware dorm to Wright & Simon, a Wilmington fixture specializing in men’s clothing since 1935. “I want someone from the family to be there,” he recalls his father saying.
So, he drove through the smoke of whatever was burning and met with the employees. After locking up the store — “this door with this key,” he emphasizes, pointing to the door at 911 N. Market St. and the key ring in his hand — he tells his father: “The store’s going to be fine.”
“Customers come to me because of my reputation and long standing in the community,” he says. “I deliver a high-end product, and I service it. And my demographic appreciates what I do.
Racks of suits, sports coats and dress pants (mostly blue, black and gray) dominate the sales floor. Also for sale are stacks of dress shirts (mostly pale pastels and subtle checks) and items to complete an outfit for an office, a wedding or even a garden party, such as belts, neckties, pocket squares and socks. There are also sweaters and casual shirts.
“Nobody else does what we do,” he adds, referring to how customers can choose among inventory hanging in the store (with hems and other adjustments made as needed upstairs), special orders from suppliers and made-to-measure items (such as custom shirts from Individualized Shirts in Perth Amboy, N.J.). Many suppliers are in Quebec, which maintains a tradition of making fine menswear, with brands like Jack Victor, Ballin, Hart Schaffmer Marx, Samuelsohn and John Forsyth.
“We don’t manufacture these sorts of the products in the U.S.,” he says, noting that no suppliers are from Asia.
Many styles have come and gone since the early 1970s, when Simon started at the store full time, after earning his business degree. “I sell classic clothing,” he says. “There are tweaks of fashion involved in it all the time, but what we sell is an investment. You buy a nice garment, and it’s styled properly. You can wear it for many, many years, and it’ll still going to look fashionable.”
A key strategy involved emphasizing made to measure. “It was a transition that I was fortunate enough to embrace,” he says on WrightAndSimon.com.
“It is the main reason we still exist in the apparel industry today. With the changes from professional dress to sloppy casual as I call it, we became a niche and destination retailer for those still [wanting] to dress and look professional. We still sell a lot from stock, but that growth is flat while made-to-measure continues to grow.”
Wright and Simon began when Leonard’s father Morris connected to retired retailer James H. Wright, who agreed to teach Morris the business, which began on W. Ninth St. In 1952, it moved to its current site, a two-story building Simon owns, squeezed between two taller buildings. Along the way, Leonard’s uncle J. Louis also worked there. Today’s staff numbers five, down from as many as 19.
Leonard is unmarried, without another generation to take over.
“I want to keep doing this as long as my health permits,” he says, noting the exercise he gets by often scaling the 22 steps between the two floors. “I work hard, but I like working hard. As long as I can be relevant, I’ll do it. The people I have met in this business are just incredible, heartwarming and loyal. I could never give this up.”
Above: Wright & Simon was born during the Depression. Current owner Leonard Simon plans to continue on “as long as my health permits.” Photo by Justin Heyes.
A Delaware native, Ken Mammarella was 18 when he was first paid as a freelance writer, and since then he’s written extensively about the interesting people, places and issues of Delaware and nearby areas. He also teaches at Wilmington University. For fun, he enjoys watching theater and creating it, playing board games and solving crosswords in ink.