The END is near ...

[st.tully]

Here is an update on Budd: "Budd Shirtmakers of Piccadilly has appointed Neville McCarthy Associates as its PR agency."

I hope this PR firm will recognize the uniqueness of Budd's niche as the last "old school" shirtmaker/haberdasher.

[Noble Savage]

Rough winds do shake the darling Budds of May,
Their Piccadilly's lease hath all too short a date;

And every shop from shop sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal fabric shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;

Nor shall Investors brag thou wander'st in their shade,
When in eternal threads to time thou grow'st:

So long as men can wear or needles sew,
So long lives Budd, and this gives life to thee.

[st.tully]

BRAVO!!!!!!

[Mark Seitelman]

Bravo on the poem.

As for the website, it is a necessary part of doing business today. You need some web presence even if it is a one page entry with your name, address, phone number, and brief summary of your business. I know a lawyer who has a one page website just so that he can be found on a search.

Therefore, a website in and of itself does not spell the end of the business. Indeed, one of the web hold-outs, Anderson & Sheppard, finally jumped in with an excellent website and blog.

[Manself]

I recently corresponded with Budd's PR (what a strange thing to be able to write) and here are my questions and their answers.

Has Huntsman recently bought the shirtmaker Budd?
The investors who own Huntsman have recently bought Budd.

Will Huntsman's bespoke shirts now be from Budd, rather than Sean O'Flynn?
No, Huntsman will continue to work with Sean O’Flynn for all bespoke shirts. We also plan to carry a line of ready to wear shirts at Huntsman with a Huntsman collar produced for us by the team at Andover.

Will Budd continue to make its own shirts in its own work rooms?
Yes, cut on site and made up at Andover and if anything we hope Andover will grow as an operation as sales increase.

Are prices likely to go up, in keeping with Huntsman's bold pricing strategy?
No, they will stay the same.

[storeynicholas]

Bravo on the poem.

As for the website, it is a necessary part of doing business today. You need some web presence even if it is a one page entry with your name, address, phone number, and brief summary of your business. I know a lawyer who has a one page website just so that he can be found on a search.

Therefore, a website in and of itself does not spell the end of the business. Indeed, one of the web hold-outs, Anderson & Sheppard, finally jumped in with an excellent website and blog.

You are quite right but it isn't the website that is going to be the problem here. There is little doubt that there is a track record of superb businesses being bought up and rubbed out as competition. Maybe this is representative of the harsh reality of modern big business but from the customers' point of view, it is a misery.

[andreyb]

Will Budd continue to make its own shirts in its own work rooms?
Yes, cut on site and made up at Andover and if anything we hope Andover will grow as an operation as sales increase.

What is this "Andover" thing?

AFAIK, Budd made shirts in Webster Brothers' own workroom somewhere in England (not in London). BTW, what happened with WB company -- they have a shop in the City, don't they?

Andrey

[storeynicholas]

Will Budd continue to make its own shirts in its own work rooms?
Yes, cut on site and made up at Andover and if anything we hope Andover will grow as an operation as sales increase.

What is this "Andover" thing?

AFAIK, Budd made shirts in Webster Brothers' own workroom somewhere in England (not in London). BTW, what happened with WB company -- they have a shop in the City, don't they?

Andrey

Sarah Webster was the recent owner of Budd and, I suppose, Webster Bros, who certainly used to have a shop in Cornhill, and bought out Budd. I think that it must have been Sarah Webster's father (maybe even grandfather, as he was quite old and very dapper), that I remember being in the shop occasionally in the 1980s, chatting to customers and reminiscing about old customers; which, in Budd's case, included a fascinating pantheon.
NJS

[st.tully]

Are prices likely to go up, in keeping with Huntsman's bold pricing strategy?
No, they will stay the same.

OK. Well, considering the engagement of a PR firm and the creation of a website which will presumably be updated, Budd's overhead is certainly going-up. I doubt the savvy businessmen behind Huntsman are looking for a thinner profit margin.

Budd makes wonderful robes from W.Bill 8/9 oz wool. I have a navy with red cording and plan on purchasing another perhaps in green with navy cording. My wife wants one in the W.Bill pale pink cashmere with hot pink cording. At least the prospect of changes at Budd gives me the excuse to buy more NOW!

[Edward Bainbridge]

Are prices likely to go up, in keeping with Huntsman's bold pricing strategy?
No, they will stay the same.

Interesting that they didn't deny Huntsman's pricing strategy was bold.

[culverwood]

Will Budd continue to make its own shirts in its own work rooms?
Yes, cut on site and made up at Andover and if anything we hope Andover will grow as an operation as sales increase.

What is this "Andover" thing?

AFAIK, Budd made shirts in Webster Brothers' own workroom somewhere in England (not in London). BTW, what happened with WB company -- they have a shop in the City, don't they?

Andrey

Webster Bros
Walworth Enterprise Centre, West Way, Andover, SP10 5AP, UK
01264 323842 ‎
Category: Shirt Makers


I do agree that when any company appoints a public relations company the end is near.

[storeynicholas]

I have written to the e-mail address on the Budd website and asked whether there is yet a timetable for the closure of Budd. It will be interesting to see whether they reply at all and, if they do, what they say because, as noted in a post above, how can a business introduce a new tier of management and PR execs, finance a website and so on, and maintain current pricing strategy, which anyway is far removed from the parent company's pricing strategy? I am not much of an economist but it seems elementary to me that you cannot sensibly maintain the old pricing for very long.

It might prove a tricky question for the most hard-nosed PR bod. and I daresay that they will not reply at all. But I'll keep you posted.
NJS

[Scot]

Budd have a sale on at the moment. Unusual timing and looks like they are trying to get rid of some stock.

[storeynicholas]

No reply, so far, to my direct question. Maybe it's: 'bye 'bye Budd! This kind of thing really sticks in my craw.
NJS

[st.tully]

Budd have a sale on at the moment. Unusual timing and looks like they are trying to get rid of some stock.

The wonderful treasure of Budd is the "stock" that you cannot find elsewhere - such as evening gloves or hog skin gloves or stiff fronts, etc - of course they don't sell on a regular basis but you could count on Budd having them in stock. A business person would look at such items and say that they were "dead" inventory that should be liquidated. Yes, Budd does have stock that is many years old but that doesn't mean it is bad. DAMN DAMN DAMN. Once it is gone it will never be restocked by the bean counters.