Canton Business Q&A: Richard Lewis Formal Wear

We recently chatted with fashion consultant Danny Goldsmith at Richard Lewis Formal Wear on Washington Street in Canton to discuss their recent move and how things are going during prom and wedding season.

Richard Lewis Formal Wear offers rentals and sales. They sell suits, sports jackets, blazers and dress pants. Most purchases come with free alterations and hand-on tailoring by the owner Kevin McCormick.

How long have you been in business and what makes the store so successful? 

“We have been in business over 40 years. The store was opened up in 1970," Goldsmith said.

“Over the years when you look at formal wear stores a lot of the big ones have come and gone. We’re a mom and pop store and each order is handled custom. We have a great reputation and people talk. And when you have people saying good things about your product people want to come to your store and they want to refer people to your store as well,” he said.

What is something that people may not know about the store?

“We’re two stores under one roof. We’re Kevin Michaels Men’s Fine Clothing and Richard Lewis Formal Wear and incredibly even people who live in Canton don’t know that we sell men’s suits, sports jackets, blazers, pants, accessories, sportswear and we have the tuxedo store. Two stores under one great roof,” said Goldsmith.

What do you like about being located in Canton? 

“Canton is a wonderful community. The town has spent a lot of money on rehabbing the downtown area. You see people walking at night, they park, they come to local restaurants. There’s residents right here in downtown Canton. It’s a pretty tight knit community. Not that all of our business comes from Canton because we do draw from Norwood and Stoughton and Sharon and Randolph and other communities but we have a really nice little go-to, is how I would describe it,” said Goldsmith.

Tell us why you recently relocated.

“We were up the street for over 40 years at 576 Washington Street. We’ve come to our new home here at 626 Washington Street and opened Saturday, April 6,” he said.

“Truthfully, our lease had come to an end. The rent was going up, we needed it to go down. We were in a building with no insulation and oil heat. We’ve come here to a building that’s insulated. We have gas heat. We’ve gotten a very nice lease for ourselves here at the store. We’re clean, we’re bright, we’re new. We have a new, fresh look and it all worked out well,” Goldsmith said.

How are things going with prom and wedding season?

“Well, it’s certainly very busy. As you can see we’re hustling up prom orders right now,” he said. “We have a very comprehensive website and we direct people to it all the time, especially brides and grooms looking at wedding attire.”