The Business
In his own words, Hal Richards does it all. As owner and operator of The Lodge, an upscale menswear store in downtown Rome, he stays up-to-date on trends, chooses and buys all of his merchandise, helps customers, makes deliveries, and cleans the store. With 40 years in the clothing industry under his belt, he has seen the industry and his role in it evolve in many ways.
New Challenges
This year provided its own set of challenges. Because of the pandemic, Richards says, business was off by about 50 percent through June. “If you can’t go anywhere, you don’t really need to dress up,” he says. “I do have some very good customers that supported me through that, that just came and shopped.”
When business started to take a downward turn, Richards says he canceled a lot of merchandise and shortened his store hours. He says business got better through July and August, and though there’s still a lot of uncertainty, he’s still moving forward. “I’ve got plenty of merchandise and I’m here doing what I do, so we’ll see how it all plays out,” he says.
Despite anxiety caused by the pandemic, Richards says his customers feel safe coming to The Lodge, which is a fairly socially distant atmosphere anyway. “I’m a destination,” he says. “I rarely have walk-ins. People come to see me because they know me and they’re looking for something.”