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Buyer Profile: Cohen’s Clothiers

There are not many standalone shops in the country that can sell Polo Ralph Lauren and Izod next to Quiksilver and RVCA―and just a few racks down from men’s suits. Cohen’s isn’t your average independent.

Posted 2/1/2012

Cohen’s Clothiers, Cockeysville, Maryland

By Shelby Stanger

There are not many standalone shops in the country that can sell Polo Ralph Lauren and Izod next to Quiksilver and RVCA―and just a few racks down from men’s suits.

Cohen’s isn’t your average independent.

Since 1904, Cohen’s Clothiers has been outfitting families in the Baltimore area with sportswear and apparel.

Current owner Gilbert Cohen’s grandpa started the shop by the docks in Maryland, but they moved to a suburban area called Cockeysville in Maryland, that was just beginning to boom in 1967.

Today, the 10,000 square foot shop caters to entire families―girls, boys, men’s and women’s all the way from babies to grandparents. They sell everything from causal wear, surf apparel, and higher-end NFL wear to custom tuxedos and suits for Bar Mitzvahs and weddings.

The shop itself is simple. There are no fancy build outs or columns; there's not a lot of items on the wall.

Rather than focus entirely on visuals, 100 percent of Cohen’s goes towards carrying the best merchandise and having impeccable customer service.

“I can’t sell graphics, but I can sell merchandise,” says Gilbert.

The shop itself is full service. “We don’t want people to think they have to find things on their own,” says Gilbert adding that they have a minimum of six people on the floor at all times and up to 15 during busy seasons. “We totally wait on people from stem to stern.”

If a shopper is buying shoes the Cohen's staff gets the shoes, unties them, fits them, and grabs new pairs until the best fit is found. Part of the reason for their attention to service comes from the large amount of merchandise they carry.

A large portion of Cohen’s clothes lies in basic khaki pants, dress shirts for private school kids as well as custom suits (they are the number one Bar Mitzvah suit in the city), though 30 percent of their business goes to surf apparel during summer months.

“I first caught wind of surf apparel in 1977,” says Gilbert. “Some regular customers came back from the Delaware and Maryland beaches talking about names like Lighting Bolt, Op, and Quiksilver. Initially it was a hard sale, but after two to three years we caught it just right and became the number one store in the Baltimore inland area for that surf look―and we've remained the number one store in the area for that look.”

The shop often carries 3,500 garments at one time from surf brands in summer months and regularly carries brands like Quiksilver (the store's top performing surf brand) as well as Billabong, O’Neill, RVCA, Rip Curl, Lucy Love, Reef, Rainbow and more.

While a decent portion of their business is in surf, customers come for a range of items. “We’re not small. You don’t come for just an item,” says Gilbert.

Besides being most proud of just existing after all these years, Gilbert loves that Cohen’s challenges him to always buy what’s best for his customer. He says without trade shows he would never be able to do what he does.

“Each year business―and what customers want―is different, which is why it’s interesting for me," he says. We’re not like a 7-Eleven. Customers constantly change what they want and you have to be there when they want it right then; not two years later. Trade shows are a critical part of my buy and help me find what’s new. I would never, under any circumstances, bypass it.”