‘We were taught to be frugal, you didn’t squander money then’
With a celebrity client list as long as Pierce Brosnan’s inside leg measurement, Louis Copeland heads up Ireland’s best-known retail tailoring chain of six shops and an online business. The Navanborn Bond actor, along with actor Dan Ackroyd, snooker champ Alex Higgins, pop stars Jedward and Roscommon TD Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan have shopped at his Capel Street store (‘Ming’ had a suit made out of hemp to wear in the Dáil as part of his legalise cannabis campaign). All retail businesses have been badly hit in the lockdown – but tailoring maybe even more so with home-working’s informal dress code. But, he advises us to keep up appearances for online meetings and is coping with the hiatus thanks to long walks and building up a thriving online business.
How’s business?
The Covid crisis and the subsequent lockdown kind of came in fast and furious but we didn’t hold back either. We knocked 40% off everything, which has boosted business.
How are you coping with the lockdown?
Up to March, we had a kind of medium-sized online business, which was more of an information website. Since we closed down the shops, it’s off the Richter scale. It wouldn’t replace our shop business but it is an income stream to help pay staff.
You are famous for made-tomeasure suits. So how does that work online?
Suits used to be 100% of our business but it’s now around 50%. Also, our customers are loyal and we have their measurements on file.
It’s been tough on business though hasn’t it?
It’s unbelievable. This is first time in my life time I have had this amount of time off… Now when I say time off, I’m still working only not so much. I live in Churchtown, Co. Dublin and the online services are nearby so I spend time there.
Hasn’t there been a double whammy for you?
You not only have to close the shops, but people are juggling childcare and Zoom meetings at home so are hardly going to splash out on formal attire. It’s true, not many people are wearing suits around the house. But in a funny way the lockdown has opened up people’s minds about what we do – that it’s not only suits. And that we’re also online. That’s really helped us to survive.
Is the Government helping out enough?
I think the Government has been doing a great job. They have helped pay contributions to staff wages.
What did parents teach you about money?
We were taught to be quite frugal.
Always stay within your budget. Cash was king. Money in the bank and the security it brought were allimportant. You just didn’t squander money back then.
What was your best investment?
(Buying) the store in Capel Street. There are now six stores plus the online retail business.
Will people ever go back to wearing suits after getting used to lolling around at home in their pyjamas?
When everything gets back to normal I don’t think people will get too casual. When fellas are in suits, people take you more seriously. [Chief Medical Officer] Dr Tony Holohan doesn’t appear on the news every night wearing casual gear. It wouldn’t be appropriate.
Any tips for working at home?
Keep up appearances. Get up at the same time you would for work. Definitely shave every day as if you were going to work.
What’s your favourite hobby and how much does it cost?
I used to go to the gym most weekday mornings from 6.15 for three quarters of an hour. Now with the gyms closed I walk. I have never walked as much in my life!
I still get up at the same time and it’s become a ritual for me. I try to do 20,000 steps a day and I can’t go to bed until I’ve done that.
I might have three walks a day. And it’s all free!
What would you do if finance minister.
I think [Finance Minister] Paschal Donohoe is doing a fantastic job. But I’d bring VAT down for the tourism and hospitality sector. It needs to go back to 9%.
Everyone has to take a haircut. Landlords have to negotiate rent. They won’t be able to charge what they were charging before. [Rent renegotiation] should be done on a turnover basis.
It should be based on what the shop’s turnover has been (in the lockdown period).