Guys & Co. Continues to Grow With the Community

Bonnie Brickman, Owner

I am not a big fan of the phrase “the new normal.” I prefer to think of navigating the challenges of the current pandemic as a “temporary normal.” But until this is all behind us, Guys & Co. is committed to keeping things as “normal 2.0” as possible with the same clothing selection and attention to customer service as when I started this company more than a decade ago.

At that time, I envisioned Guys & Co. as a store for boys, but as they have grown, we have grown with them. Now, we stock dress and casual shirts and trousers as well as suits for boys and men. But even before the pandemic, I’d been seeing clothing take on a more casual and comfortable appearance. Accordingly, we are now emphasizing clothes to fit that North Shore lifestyle.

The coronavirus has changed near everything about the way we live now and there are a lot of unknowns particularly when it comes to rites of passage, such as bar mitzvahs, high school senior pictures, going off to college, joining a fraternity and interviewing for one’s first job.

From Zoom and socially-distanced backyard mitzvahs and drive-in graduation ceremonies to e-classes, things are looking different for this generation. But young adults still need sports coats, suits and casual dress wear, especially for the upcoming back-to-school shopping season,

Even in a pandemic, some things have not changed from when I first opened Guys & Co. We are still known as the North Shore’s bar mitzvah headquarters. The only time things may slow down is during summer camp season, when the kids go away for up to eight weeks. Of course it’s a different story when they return home a few inches taller and their parents find they have outgrown their clothes. Then the store is jam-packed! (This was before the pandemic. We currently restrict the number of customers in the store at one time.)

Another thing that hasn’t changed is that we remain committed to giving back to the community, including fundraisers and our annual buy back program, which gives parents the opportunity to sell back to us clothing their children have outgrown in exchange for credit on new clothing. We then donate the used clothing to charitable organizations such as Chicago Chesed and Wings. 

The primary thing that hasn’t changed is our personalized service, whether it be in-store or online. We encourage families to schedule a one-on-one appointment. Appointments are usually 30 minutes; boys still do not like to shop for long periods of time.

That’s one thing that will probably never change!

To call for an appointment, email styleteam@guysandco.com, call 847-940-4897 or schedule online.

--Bonnie Brickman, owner