Al's Formal Wear is a chain of tuxedo rental stores that was founded by Al Sankary in Fort Worth, Texas in 1952. With hard work, ingenuity, and innovative marketing, Sankary took a small tailor shop and turned it into a multi-million dollar enterprise with stores spanning the U.S. His innovative ideas and creative influence still remain standards in the industry today; including the ruffled shirt, the wash and wear, poly-cotton shirt, the expandable waist band, and the fancy dinner jacket. These were all his ideas and he worked diligently with manufacturers to make them widely available to the public.
Sankary built his business one store at a time; first Fort Worth, then Tulsa, then Houston (where the company is currently headquartered), Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Tyler, New Orleans and eventually as far away as Florida. Over the years, Sankary experimented with different concepts, including bridal stores, mall kiosks, manufacturing formal lines himself, uniform sourcing for the military, and cleaning. He believed strongly in vertical integration; providing a one source solution to his business model—from manufacturing formal wear to retail renting to cleaning...and then back on the rack.
In 1957, Sankary brought in his sister, Lillian and her husband, Alan Gaylor, into the business. Since that time it has grown to over 100 locations in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Colorado, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Today Al's Formal Wear is a family-owned business, with Alan Gaylor’s son Stuart as company president.
The company stocks over 50 styles of tuxedos for rental, including designer names such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. The company also carries a wide variety of formal wear and accessories for retail purchase, as well as a full line of career apparel for occupations needing formal dress. Over the years, the selection of styles available has changed with the times, from the midnight blue tuxedos of the 1950s through the wide lapels and ruffles of the 60s and 70s, the return of classic looks in the 80s, and the longer coats and athletic-inspired looks of the 2000s.
Al's Formal Wear fills orders for weddings, high school proms, quinceaneras and other events from its computerized, state-of-the-art distribution centers. On-site dry cleaning plants and alteration facilities at the distribution centers ensure quality and consistency.
Alan Gaylor and Al Sankary divided the business in 1978, with Gaylor maintaining ownership of the Al's Formal Wear operations based in Houston, while Sankary owned the operations based in the Dallas area. This division occasionally led to some customer confusion, but persisted until 1999, when Gaylor's Al's Formal Wear of Houston bought the Dallas operation from Sankary. At this point, the combined business included approximately 120 Al's Formal Wear, Ascot Tuxedos, and BridesMart locations in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. By 2006, some consolidation and the spinoff of the bridal division reduced the number of tuxedo stores to between 90 and 100. After the purchase of Mr. Neat’s Formalwear of Colorado, and an expansion into Arkansas and MIssissippi, Al’s Formal Wear now encompasses six states with over 100 stores.
"Baylor University to Honor 13 Texas Family Businesses". Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/pr/news.php?action=story&story=5596. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
"Black Tie Award Winners". International Formalwear Association. http://www.formalwear.org/members/resources/Awardwinners.html. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
Ho, Rodney (2000), "Family Feud in Formal Wear: Two different styles of operation end with one company", Wall Street Journal (New York, New York) Houston Business Journal, (2000). "Top 50 Family Owned Businesses"
Van Camp, Emily, (2005). "The family business: Al's Formal Wear rises to the occasion with its family of formal wear stores." US Business Review 6.2, p. 284.