Classic menswear dressed up in an art deco shop

TradeNamesA Limerick menswear shop has found its niche and refuses to be bullied into the computer age, writes Rose Doyle

Time was, in the 1930s and 1940s, when Leonard's Menswear at 23 O'Connell Street in Limerick was a relatively new shop on the block, that proprietor John Leonard was obliged to serve a certain few of his customers in their cars by the kerbside. The "gentlemen" members of the next door Country Club (established 1845) preferred not to come into the shop. Some of them didn't pay either.

Times have changed, happily though not utterly. The Country Club, since 1946 when the Augustinians acquired its premises, has been replaced by an Augustinian Friary and church.

Leonard's Menswear, which celebrated its 70th birthday yesterday, has never, on the other hand, been more secure in its respected niche. A bastion of classic men's clothing still, a place where silk ties reflect in shining mahogany counters and service, always, is knowledgeably helpful.

Brian Leonard, son of John, is the proprietor these days. He's the essence of classic style himself in wool-worsted grey trousers, blue Lacoste shirt, yellow tie and navy cashmere jacket. He hasn't made many changes to number 23. The soul of discretion and courteous with it, he says he "consciously keeps things as they've always been. It works. We don't even have a computer, still write things up. I don't really know why; we're in a time warp maybe. Never felt the need. The way things are done is simple, on the back of an envelope, near enough. It works."

The mahogany counters are French polished twice yearly by Batty Yelverton and have been for about 50 years now. "We don't go to him; Batty comes to tell us when they need to be done," Brian says. They're special counters: wide but without joins, cut from a singular tree.

The plate glass windows get special treatment too from Henry Noonan who has been cleaning them for more than 40 years. Henry is a day younger than the shop: he's 70 years old today.

Brian Leonard has been working in the business for 32 years, since he was 18. He never wanted to do anything else. Before that he was in the shop during school holidays and after class. (His three older brothers chose other careers). His staff in the shop didn't come through the door yesterday either; John O'Riordan has been there 18 years, Eamonn Ryan 23 years.

Brian Leonard tells the story of his family's business with affection, and humour.

"My father, John Leonard, served his time in Switzers, in Dublin. He was from Newcastlewest, Co Limerick. There were two other trainees with him in the menswear department; a Mr Price who later opened Gibson Price in Suffolk Street and Lucky Cody who opened the Sweepstake chain of Lucky Cody shops. My father always kept up contact with Price; his son became an agent and we used buy shirts and knitwear from him."

Once trained, John Leonard returned south, bought 23 O'Connell Street and prepared to set up his own menswear establishment in what, until then and for a long time, had been Hynes Drapery. He paid £2,000 for it at auction on May 9th, 1935. The shop fittings cost an extra £21 and the commission on the purchase was £103.3.0d. Between then and the opening day in October of that year he paid a further £1,300.0.0d for Hynes' stock.

Craftsworkers O'Connor and Daly put in a new shopfront, art deco in style and with the Vectra lighting which is the only one of its kind left in Limerick. With the mahogany counters and fittings all polished up, the 232sq m (2,500sq ft) and three floors well stocked, John Leonard was ready for business.

His takings on October 25th, 1935 were £20.0.8d. His turnover for the first year was £3,142.10.6d. "Fantastic," his son says, "given the depressed economic times." He sold silk pyjamas in l943 for 1.17.6 and sock suspenders for 5/6d. His turnover for l976 was £68,500.93p.

He sold woollen underwear, woollen suiting, shirts, ties, knitwear, overcoats and raincoats. He did CMT (cut measure trim) but not a great deal of tailoring since Limerick, in those days and for a long time, was well served by textile manufacturers like Two Owls, Danus and Limerick Clothing.

"He did big trade with the legal confraternity," Brian Leonard says, "tunic shirts and the wing collars for court and hard, regular collars for after court. It's still a big part of our business."

And then there was the church.

"In the late 1950s," Brian recalls, "when Jockey underwear brought in Y-fronts, my father bought and displayed them in the window. Next day a deputation arrived from the Redemptorist Confraternity to tell him to take them out of the window as they were offensive. He'd no choice but to do so."

John Leonard worked his business for 53 years, until July 1987. "He came to work every day, even after he had a leg replaced with an artificial one. My mother, Joan (who died in 1993), would collect him every evening and two traffic wardens used help him into the car."

His customers included Bishop Eamonn Casey, to whom he sold a suit as he headed for the seminary in the 1950s, the singer Burl Ives and one-time government minister, Donnacha O'Malley.

John Leonard died in July, 1988. He was 75.

Brian Leonard, who had been helping his father from boyhood, copper-fastened his commitment to the shop when, aged 19, he went to Ipswich to learn "how to cut and make in the Phillip & Piper factory there. They supplied us with the hunting wear we sold. I didn't like it, I'd come from a sheltered growing up and Ipswich was a big city. I worked for six more months in Riddleys Menswear shops in Ipswich, Norwich, Bury-St-Edmunds and London. They're all closed now, both factory and shops. I came home then and worked here with my father until his untimely death."

Leonards, until 1997 and along with O'Callaghans of Dame Street, Dublin, was the place to go for hunting gear. Customers came from the US and all across Europe, especially Switzerland and Germany. "Quality was one of the problems," Brian says. "It was too good and they lasted forever - plus there weren't enough people coming into hunting."

Limerick has changed since his boyhood. "It's been enhanced, yes, but a lot of fine old shops are gone. Nestor's Sportswear is now a pub, Comer Jewellers was a beautiful shop but there are phones being sold there now."

Leonards won't be selling anything but menswear for a long time to come. The basement is used for storage. Suits, overcoats, jackets, raincoats and hats fill the first floor. Shirts, silk ties and knitwear are on the ground floor. Brian dresses the windows himself: casual wear on one side, suits, blazers on the other.

"I love what I do," he says, "and intend being around for a long time yet. When you're doing something you like you tend to stick around. I've a daughter, Jacqueline, who is showing form and we're hoping. . . She's doing early childhood studies in Cork at the moment. And I've two nephews who help me out during holidays and at Christmas. And of course my wife, Suzanne, gives a hand then too.

"One-third of our turnover is made between December and January each year. The job satisfaction is great; 99 per cent of the customers coming here are lovely people. It's nice to see them leaving well dressed and then coming back to make more confident choices the next time. Good clothes have a definite feel-good factor to them."

He doesn't "encourage designer jeans. We've a big Lacoste range in shirts, knitwear, casual jackets, fleeces and we do some of the five pocket jeans. But," and he's firm, "I don't encourage it."

Leonards Menswear, as long as Brian Leonard has anything to do with it, will be doing what it does best for a long time to come.