TIME SUITS TO END CENTURY OF FASHION
WALK around any city or town in Wales and you’ll struggle to find many places that have been around longer than Cayzer’s menswear.
Located on Chepstow Road in Maindee, Newport, a short walk from the city centre and separated by the River Usk, the shop has been selling men’s clothing for weddings, events and everything else besides since 1905.
For many years, if you wanted a suit, you went to Cayzer’s. Check your parents’ or grandparents’ wardrobe and you’ll likely find at least one item of clothing bought from Cayzer’s racks.
But in just a couple of months, the shop will be no more. In November its shelves of neatly folded shirts, ties, jackets, trousers and smart-looking shoes will be gone, to be replaced by a Turkish restaurant.
For owner Peter Watkins, who has worked in the shop for 52 years, it’s the end of an era – one that goes deeper than just business.
“My dad Geoff had been in the army in India during the war,” he explained. “He was originally from Hereford, and he worked in an outfitters there for a while, before the war. When he came back he looked around for a business to buy and found one in Newport.”
Geoff Watkins bought the business from its original owner in 1948. Born three years later, Peter, now 70, grew up in Glasllwch Lane and started working in Cayzer’s as a teenager when he left school in 1969.
He is old enough to remember the original Mr Cayzer, who opened the original shop, though his first name escapes him today.
“He lived on St John’s Road I believe, and he was a very nice man,” he remembered.
Such was Mr Cayzer’s kindness that he even offered his services free of charge when he sold the shop to Peter’s dad.
“He wanted a smooth takeover, so he said to my dad, ‘Look, I’ll work for no pay for two years.’”
In his early years in the shop, Peter fondly remembers the atmosphere working with his father (“we got on famously”), as well as his cousin Richard and a handful of others.
And when it came to taking over the business himself in the 1980s, Peter’s interest in fashion allowed him to put his own stamp on things.
“I was more interested in the fashion side. So when I came in we bought the premises next door, which we called Peter Cayzer.
“That was great because it was my little baby, if you like. We sold the fashion brands and attracted the youngsters that hadn’t been there before. I wanted to sell stuff I was interested in: high fashion suits, different shaped trousers, jackets with more defined shoulders. We used to sell jeans and brands that only youngsters would buy.”
Looking around the shop now, the range of suits, jackets, trousers, shoes, ties, bow ties and more is
impressive. It’s representative of a time in the 1970s and 1980s where, Peter said, people wore formal suits for most jobs.
“I remember when the Llanwern steelworks was at its height, almost all the office staff there used to wear suits. [You had] teachers who all wore suits. We used to sell suits for fun. It was constant. We stocked around 700 suits in those days.”
It might be a rare sight now, but in the 1970s it wasn’t unusual to see young men around town dressed to the nines in outlandish suits.
And in its heyday, Cayzer’s had more competition than it does today, vying with a host of independent traders in Maindee alone and, later, bigger chains and department stores.
“I think when I first started there were 20 menswear shops in Newport,” he remembered. “We’re talking about places like Dunnes and Hodges, as well as the likes of Marks and Spencer and Burton. On the independent side there were numerous menswear shops.
“It was a very busy place,” he said of Maindee in those days. “It was basically a little town of its own. Lots of clothes shops, all sorts. You didn’t have to go into town to buy what you wanted: everything you needed was this side of the bridge.”
But as the 1990s came in, this started to change. Many of the independent local shops in Maindee began to close.
“It probably started to change as far back as 20 years ago, when independents gradually closed and things like restaurants and betting offices sort of took over.”
Like many traders, Peter admitted he was worried to see the problems facing retail creep in, but said it was thanks to a loyal cohort of shoppers that Cayzer’s has kept going.
“We’re a bit of a destination shop, because we’ve got some very loyal customers who’ve been coming here for many years. And they still come.”
Not only having to contend with the changes in the high street, Cayzer’s customer base also began to change. Top buttons, tailored slacks and ties have gradually given way over the years to more casual work attire: jeans, chinos and sweatshirts.
“I had one customer in recently who is a car salesman. He said he hasn’t worn suits to work in years,” Peter said. “When I first started, everyone used to wear suits to work.”
Instead, Cayzer’s has delved into the high-end wedding business to combat the changes in demand. But as the years wore on, Peter began to think about retirement.
“My wife has been wanting me to retire for the past few years. I think it’s the right time,” he said.
“The last few years, business has been more difficult. But lately, some businesses have closed, so our business has picked up. It’s gone mad. Everybody is out to buy clothes.
“Covid was obviously not good for anybody, and it’s difficult because in this trade you have to buy six months in advance from the manufacturers. When Covid came along we couldn’t do that because there were no trade shows. Obviously we had stock in the shop we had to get rid of anyway, so we couldn’t do any more buying, as we’d be out of season.
“But it was always the plan [to retire].”
Admitting it was “difficult” for him and the shop’s remaining staff – wife Sally and long-running employee Steve Lewis – to leave, Peter paid tribute to the customers who’d passed through the doors over the years.
“You know them, or you recognise their faces. But we’d know a lot of names,” he said. “People tell us it’s a nice, pleasant place to come, where you can look around, there’s lots of space and we’re friendly. We’ve had lots of lovely comments like that.
“I think people do like family businesses because they’re getting less and less. I think it’s getting that personal touch. They know it’s a family business and you have to be polite to people, and that you have to do your best to satisfy them.”