A fourth-generation clothier and UT corporate communications alumnus runs his business from a pair of rooms up a flight of stairs and down a hallway in a church on campus.
“I’m homeless,” founder Jared Wiesenthal said. “I travel full time. I got rid of my apartment (in Austin) three years ago, and I just spend all my time on the road.”
Wiesenthal began selling formalwear to young men on the Forty Acres as a freshman in 2018 after the nearby Al’s Formal Wear closed. He transformed part of the second floor of the University Christian Church into Concierge Clothing, a men’s formalwear store with racks of suits along the walls. Wiesenthal said that three years ago he sold to 100 people and now he sells to 1000 people a month. Shaan Mehta, an economics freshman, bought a suit jacket for a formal event on Friday.
“I was on a time crunch that day … so I had to get (the suit jacket) really fast,” Mehta said. “It’s very convenient that … I just have to walk five minutes and I’m able to get a suit jacket in around 20 minutes total.”
Wiesenthal said that he wants to make the suit shopping experience as comfortable as possible and thinks that the business of formalwear will be one that remains in person for a long time. He said he measures customers and sells them suits that require little to no alterations. Wiesenthal made his first big sale with his father as an 18-year-old to his Zeta Beta Tau fraternity brothers, bringing in around $14,000 that day.
“What people like is that I’m no frills,” Wiesenthal said. “There’s no extra this or that. If someone needs a suit or a tux, we do that, no other frills.”
The McCombs School of Business recently partnered with Concierge Clothing in January for a suit pop-up, where Wiesenthal provided students with free suits. Hannah Crow, senior public relations major and marketing and communications intern at Concierge Clothing, said that she enjoys being part of a business that helps the UT community and prepares students for important events, like interviews.
“(The first impression) is so important with any interview,” said Crow. “Being able to look and present yourself in a way that is going to be what that company or what that organization is looking for is so important.”
Wiesenthal keeps his eyes on the future and said that he hopes to expand the store to the third floor of the church, particularly to a well-lit room with a view of the Capitol. He said this change would also shift the entrance from the side of the church to the front, making it nicer for customers. Crow said that Wiesenthal’s passion and vision are reasons she works at Concierge Clothing.
“I don’t identify as a clothier,” Wiesenthal said. “At the end of the day, I’m just a guy. I do this for a living, and I absolutely love it, and I can see myself in 40 years still sitting at fraternity houses, (fitting and dressing) guys.”
