Our Story
44 Years In The Making
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2024
A lifelong brand.
Amazing products in an amazing location!
My clothing obsession
began in 1966 as a teenage boy riding the city bus to high school into Downtown London. Along the way, discovering that menswear shops were everywhere! Grafton's, Scott's, Wolf's, O'Brien's, O'Donnell Taylor, Fairweather's Big Steel, Doug Powers, Bud Gowan's, H.W. Ball, Vaisler Bonds, Boughen's, Bob Dowler's, Thomas Clothing, to name a few. Plus, the new Wellington Square Mall was home to Holt Renfrew, Talisman, Tip Top Tailors, Eaton's. What more could a young man want? Who knew that this teenage boy would one day work at three of those menswear shops H.W. Ball, Bud Gowan and Thomas Clothing, before eventually opening my own interpretation of a menswear store.
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May 1 1980 DAVID E. WHITE CLOTHIER LTD. first store opens
The Square Goderich, Ont.
Nov. 1,1987 London store opened at 483 Richmond St. in what is now the Tasting Room Restaurant.
Sept. 1.1990 relocated to The Talbot Centre
Richmond & Fullarton St.
Sept. 1.2000 next move was to our store at
Richmond & Queens
May 1.2015 Vancouver shop opens The Bentall Centre
cont'd...
Longevity is
key and here we are in year 44!
Fast forward 44 years
The David E. White name is not just above the door, I am in the store. The streets have changed over the decades, but here we are loaded with tales to tell of designing & opening nine retail shops.
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Over the decades I have had the opportunity to meet, work with and become friends with so many amazing people. Countless stories and experiences.
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In 2019 we made a decision to move out of the larger shop at Richmond & Queens and downsize into the shop next door, figuring this will serve our needs quite nicely. That decision appeared to a sound one for a number of months, but then along came a thing called Covid! There will be books written about this plague, and its effect on our businesses. Our chapter reads, (like many of our peers) that covid has had a significant impact on our business, we were in the eye of the storm. We also discovered as we sat out the multiple lockdowns, that we were not quite ready for the business obituary page and in order to come out of this in one piece and thrive, we would need to spread our wings once again.
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So we got out the planograms and the spreadsheets, and after months of planning, designing, painting and packing, the stage is set, Richmond Row here we are, in what may well be described as our best for last rendition, and with one more chapter to write!
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44 YEARS OLD IN 2024
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DAVID E. WHITE
ONE RICHMOND ROW
517 Richmond St. London
