Posted Thursday, November 2, 2017 1:26 am

By ED HOWELL Daily Mountain Eagle Randall “Randy” Byrd, the owner and manager of National Menswear, announced this week he is retiring and closing the Big and Tall clothing store which has been a fixture on Highway 118 in Jasper for more than four decades. “The bottom line, I think it is time for me to retire before I get so old I won’t feel like going anywhere but to the doctor’s office and back,” he said with a laugh. “I’m going to hate closing it. It’s bittersweet that I am doing this, but all good things have to stop at some point.” After thinking about it for some time, a decision was made within the past couple of weeks. Signs indicating the retirement sale were put up Tuesday in front of the store, located at 703 Highway 78 E, at the intersection with Airport Road. Advertisements in the Daily Mountain Eagle started Wednesday, as did sales at the store. He plans to run the store until Christmas week. “It’s been good for me. I’ve enjoyed it,” he said. “Now, I’m turning 68 years (in February) after 46 years, plus it is time I think to slow down a little bit and quit working 50 to 60 hours a week.” His wife, Josie Byrd, said he has devoted much of his life to the store, putting in long hours and closing only on major holidays — and then coming back the next day. Byrd noted neither of his two step-children, as well as the four grandchildren the couple enjoy, have any interest in taking up the business, pointing out the step-children are living in Hoover and Atlanta, Ga. The store was opened by Hamilton businessman Ray Thompson in November 1970, while Byrd, a Sulligent native, came in October 1971. “There was a guy named Fred Key who worked here,” Byrd said Wednesday in the back of the store. “Fred needed some help, so Ray found me and I came to Jasper. “I had known Ray Thompson for years because I worked for his uncle at a general store in Sulligent,” he said. “Then in 1970, Ray came to Jasper to open this store. Then it was down by Nelems Marine, and I drove back and forth for about a year between here and Sulligent, daily. Then I moved here in 1972.” Byrd noted he knew nothing about the business when he started and had to learn. However, by October 1976, he knew enough about the business to buy out Thompson and continue operating the store. ‘I’ve met a lot of nice people. I’ve got a lot of friends in Jasper,” he said. “But over the period of time I feel, bottom line, America is turning, shopping in different directions,” such as going online and to larger stores. However, he said smaller stores such as National Menswear competed by offering quality and service. “That is what people will always need is service,” Byrd said. “A lot of them don’t know what size coat they wear or even how to make it fit. That’s where we come in. But bottom line, we’re not doing the volume we once did, due to the online (shopping).” The location was no problem, as he felt it was “the best location in Jasper,” with traffic lights stopping people at the busy intersection, across the street from Walgreen’s and CVS. Heavy traffic also comes through Airport Road, connecting downtown and Bevill State Community College from the south and Farmstead, Curry and Arley from the north. He also noted Walmart is just up the street on U.S. Highway 118, also known by the U.S. Highway 78 name.

He said the building could not feasibly be expanded due to property rights-of-way issues from variances. The current facility started as a laundromat, but Earnest Daniel with Handy Dandy, who was next door at the time, had closed it. “He and I got together with my landlord, and we converted it from a laundromat to a men’s store” in 1973, he said. Byrd noted he and his wife, and a part-time employee, run the business today. At the height of the business, he employed three full-time employees and two part-time employees. The store started out as a regular men’s store, but it eventually phased in to specializing for larger sizes for larger men. “You can buy regular sizes at most any store. But the big and tall guy can’t find sizes everywhere and we saw the need. We went in that direction,” he said. Eventually, tuxedo rentals were also added, which Byrd said has been a “big, big business” for the store. “ Byrd said he has seen trends come and go over the years. When he started in 1971, “polyester pants were the new rage going on. The patent leather shoes and boots, white and different bright colors, and patent leather belts to match — that seemed to have died down some,” he said. “Then they brought out the leisure suits. A lot of people didn’t know what leisure suits were. I put leisure suits on my sign, and people came by, wanting to know what is a leisure suit. All it was a pair of slacks with a matching unconstructed jacket. “We saw that come and go, along with the big floral print shirts with the widespread collar. When that was dying down, then came along the vested suits. Then, once it was going real good, then came along the trio suits, which had the two pair of pants, the vest and the jacket. They would put trim on the jacket and vest to match the extra pants.” He recalled in the 1970s and 1980s, and in the early 1990s to mid-’90s, Levi’s jeans was a major fad. However, he noted Levi’s didn’t “change with the times and they stayed with more of the basic styles. We saw Levi’s hit its high and now its not as popular.” Byrd confirmed some reports jeans in general are not as popular as they once were. “The generation that grew up with jeans and Levi’s now have found kaki’s are a little bit roomier and a little more comfortable than the Levi. And the younger generation are not wearing the Levi’s as the older generation did,” he said. He listed other popular labels he has seen, like Members Only, Ocean Pacific, Guess and Panama Jack. “They will flood the market and they will rule it for a while, and then they will start going down and another name will come in,” he said. Byrd said one employment trend that has changed was the student who would want to come in working part-time. “That doesn’t happen anymore,” he said. “Mom and dad furnish them with a new car, a charge card and a cell phone. They don’t have a need to work. Years ago, they had an old car they had to buy gas for. They had expenses. That’s a big change.” Mrs. Byrd noted the couple has a home in Lamar County that they are retiring to. Asked what he will do in retirement, he noted that is a good question. “First off, I would like to destress somewhat and see what it is like not to have to work 50 to 60 hours a week,” he said. “From that point on, I would really like to do what I want and need to do without doing what somebody else might want me to do. My wife wants to travel some; she just wants us to spend some time together because she has some back problems and a few health issues.” He said he would like to retire to enjoy “a little bit of life without having to work all the time.”