Interview with Suits Unlimited

As a local wedding DJ it is important to know how to communicate and coordinate not only with the bride and groom but also with the other vendors that are helping with the event. It takes a village to put together a wedding and it is crucial that all vendors are respectful and courteous to each other to help the day run smoothly. In light of this, we would like to highlight some of the local wedding professionals we often work with and whom we highly recommend to our clients for their special day! Here’s a bit of Q & A with Albuquerque’s very own Suits Unlimited.

• Tell us a little about yourself and your company. We are Suits Unlimited a menswear specialty store that is locally owned and operated. We have been in business and servicing the community since 1971.  

• What made you want to start your own suit business? Our owner Larry Garcia learned to sew from his time in the Marines where he jumped with and repaired parachutes, after his time there he wanted to bring that same skill to light in clothing. He saw a void in the menswear market in Albuquerque that he thought he could fulfill by offering tailoring services along with selling retail items. There were others in town like him but he felt he could build relationships and stimulate healthy competition among his peers, so he along with his two brothers, started our company.

• What do you love to do when you’re not at work? Even though we work together on a daily basis, we as a family love getting together, eating, playing games and talking family. We are very close and caring for one another. It’s our greatest hope that our customers feel like a part of our extended family.

• How long have you been in business? We started in 1971 as Mr. Casual but as fashion moved from leisure suits to business suits of the 80’s and beyond we changed our name to Suits Unlimited. We are still the same business and the same people, we just decided to move along with the times to serve our customer with the best menswear. We started renting tuxedos and suits for weddings in 1984 and have loved working with that part of the industry and customer base ever since.

• Where do you see your business in 5 years? We are hoping to expand our store, revamp our fixtures, and also bring a bit more product on our retail side. As for our rental side we are always looking for ways to make booking tuxedos easier for wedding couples. They can now build their own custom wedding looks on our virtual mannequins via iPads and we can also send them to their family and friends. We are hoping to bring more technical advances, backed with our customer service, to make each customers experience with us a more personalized one.

• What makes your company unique or different? Our customer service drives our sales force as well as our owners. Serving our customers to the best of our ability is our top priority. Buying or renting tailored menswear can be a cumbersome process but with our help we hope it can be an enjoyable one and I think we achieve that thus far. We also offer next day and even same day tailoring services, which is not really available from other clothing stores. Last but not least we offer shoe shine valet services Monday through Friday. It’s an old world but much needed service that we want to keep alive for today’s customers.

• What do you love most about weddings and events? We love each couples wedding style! It’s such a huge day for couples and we love to see the styles they want to pick and the colors they put together when it comes to their menswear. They want to remember this day for the rest of their lives and we are honored to help a couple find the best menswear options for their wedding day.

• What tips do you have for clients? Imagine that picture you take with your entire wedding party, think of what the bridesmaids look like next to you and then think about how groom and groomsmen are going to look. Our Pinterest page has dozens of looks for groomsmen in black, gray, navy/blue, and tan suits and tuxedos paired up with all kinds of bridesmaids in different colors. Once the couple has figured out how they want their party to look, picking our menswear options to emulate that is a piece of cake.

• What is something you hate seeing in your industry? Timing is everything, especially when it comes to weddings. There are so many moving parts, groomsmen coming in from out of town, picking up last minute items, rehearsals, phone calls, etc as the days to a wedding wind down. We hate to see a bride or groom worry that something might not fit them or a member of their wedding party and then when it happens, nothing is done to fix it. Our mission is to make sure they look their absolute best and we have our tailoring department to help make that happen. If something is a miss, we do everything in our power to make it right.