A fit for the future
Much has changed since Harder, Denmark’s oldest menswear shop, first opened its doors in the heart of Aarhus in 1895. But the old cash register from 1917, which has been an instrumental part of Harder for over 100 years, still stands the test of time.
“It’s Denmark’s oldest cash register that’s still in use, but there’s still plenty of life in it. It has almost become symbolic to how we operate our business. We handle everything manually – our receipts are written by hand, and there’s no electronic stock control. This is only possible because we’re 100 per cent independent,” says owner Henrik Jensen, who is gradually taking over the family-owned business from his father, Flemming Jensen.
Harder’s approach may seem somewhat old-school, but with clients driving from across the country to browse the unique collection of menswear that has been carefully handpicked from leading European high-quality brands, they seem to be onto something. “We go to Italy four to six times a year to pick out new items for our shelves – always with a focus on exceptional quality and good craftmanship. But we also strive to offer our customers something that they don’t find elsewhere. A visit to our shop has to be worth their time – and with many regular clients, we have earned enough goodwill to be able to introduce new brands that we know they’ll like.”
Tailored for success
Harder is seeing a growing interest in individually tailored clothes such as suits, jackets, trousers and shirts – clothing made just like in the old days. “Our customers really see the difference when we demonstrate why it matters to have a garment made to measure. There is always a big buzz when the master tailor from the Italian brand Caruso visits our shop twice a year to do measurements like no other – true to proud Italian tailoring traditions,” says Jensen, who, at the same time, finds it important to keep up with the changing times, which is why a web shop is on the drawing board.
“It’s more relevant than ever before to have a strong online presence. Harder is always ready to face the future of tomorrow – but while staying true to our values and traditions.”
www.harder.dk
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