Males’s style in Jamaica is usually underrepresented within the attire business, regardless that accessibility for ladies is continually rising. A stroll via any main buying plaza or a scroll via native style retailers’ social media pages reveals a standard pattern: shops overwhelmingly cater to girls. This leaves fashion-conscious males struggling to seek out fashionable, reasonably priced, and high quality items, making the buying expertise extra of a hunt than a comfort.
876 South goals to bridge that hole in males’s style by offering an area that caters particularly to male buyers—a rarity in lots of Jamaican retail settings. Situated in Mandeville, Manchester, the boutique creates an environment the place males can discover their private fashion comfortably. By providing authentic shoe manufacturers, like Clarks, and versatile clothes for various events, the shop provides choices which are fashionable but accessible, interesting to males from varied socio-economic backgrounds.
The boutique’s proprietor, Nicolla Dennis, had that actual reasoning behind the concept for the shop, citing the apparent gaps within the business.
“It at all times annoys me if I am going someplace with my companion, particularly in Jamaica, and I can’t discover a retailer that’s simply devoted to them,” mentioned Dennis.
This moved Nicolla to open her first males’s boutique, ‘All American,’ in Could Pen, Clarendon. For 13 years at this location, she met the demand for males’s clothes and constructed sturdy relationships with prospects. The love of this idea from the audience moved her to increase her thought to a second location in Could Pen, after which lastly, one other in Manchester within the type of ‘876 South.’ Nestled within the new Sovereign Centre, the shop welcomes prospects from Monday to Saturday, and greets them with a welcoming setting.
What units 876 South aside is its dedication to selection, authenticity, affordability, and accessibility. Inside the shop, buyers are greeted with a wide array of authentic manufacturers and kinds in each clothes and footwear—choices that mirror the totally different tastes and wishes of Jamaican males.
One of many retailer’s key messages, “Solely Originals,” is greater than a tagline for Nicolla Dennis; it displays a dedication to providing real merchandise that prospects can belief.
“We’ve contracts with Hush Puppies, Clarks… we keep being authentic, we satisfaction ourselves on high quality,” mentioned Dennis.
Now greater than ever, there’s a want from customers for high quality merchandise that may stand the take a look at of time, and 876 South has taken notice. However no matter this, 876 South understands that everybody deserves genuine manufacturers to feel and look good. That is why Nicolla has applied layaway choices, as a result of she thinks good style doesn’t need to be costly.
“We promote authentic merchandise, and we prefer to give you alternative ways for folks to afford our merchandise,” mentioned Dennis.
For purchasers like Horatio Scott, the layaway choice is extra than simply comfort, it’s empowering.
“Properly, let’s simply say formidable… that’s how you’re feeling—like an actual man getting the chance to have issues, as a result of having $10,000 and with the ability to solely purchase a shoe and in addition want a pants and shirt… the layaway provides you that chance to make it occur and be accountable on the similar time… and the nice factor is you pay no curiosity.”
However that’s not the one factor prospects love about their 876 South expertise.
Since that is an unique males’s boutique, it is necessary that males really feel snug buying there. With a well-organized structure, it’s simple to seek out precisely what you want with out feeling too overwhelmed by the variability. Past this, the employees ensures they offer you a customized expertise so you may really feel empowered to construct your ultimate wardrobe. You might be inspired to inform them precisely what you want—from occasion, to colors, to fashion—and they’ll guarantee they direct you to objects of the very best quality to match your fashion.
“Nobody ever seems to be out for the boys… how they need to gown, how they need to really feel, how they need to look… That’s how we are available. If they’re uncertain about one thing, we will information them in fashion it and put it collectively,” mentioned Dennis.
One other fascinating factor of 876 South is its aim to interrupt the stigma of males in style in Jamaica. There is no such thing as a doubt that that is predominantly a feminine area, or some would say a “lady’s factor.” It’s even a standard consensus amongst some Jamaican males that they need to not care about clothes or take an excessive amount of time in guaranteeing every thing is excellent. However 876 South helps to vary that mindset by making style a bit extra approachable for males.
In deciding to begin her enterprise on this business, Nicolla noticed that males do, in truth, wish to gown properly however typically really feel underserved and underrepresented.
“I feel nobody really thinks males need assistance or wish to look good or stand out…,” mentioned Dennis.
Moreover, she is of the assumption that giving males an area the place they don’t really feel misplaced is the important thing to breaking down the stigma whereas serving to them to step up their fashion: “We would like males to really feel snug, are available and be like ‘Sure! We glance masculine on this retailer.’ They’ll discover every thing that they want.”
So what’s subsequent for 876 South? There is no such thing as a doubt that we live within the age of comfort; folks now, greater than ever earlier than, choose to buy their outfits on-line relatively than visiting a brick-and-mortar location. Recognizing this shift in shopper habits, Nicolla has her eyes set on launching a web site that can enable prospects throughout the island to entry the shop’s choices with no need to go to Mandeville.
For now, prospects can place orders via Instagram, with delivery accessible islandwide. The transfer on-line goals to make style much more accessible to Jamaican males, whereas mixing comfort with a curated buying expertise.
Style shouldn’t really feel out of attain, and Nicolla Dennis proves with 876 South that, with the precise imaginative and prescient, it doesn’t need to be. A mix of easy in-store experiences, versatile methods to pay, and soon-to-come digital comfort reveals that 876 South is dedicated to creating style accessible to each man. In a retail panorama the place males typically really feel ignored, 876 South provides not simply clothes, however a possibility to buy with function and confidence.
